Post Lockdown Life and Fitness

It’s been about three months now since my last gym session. I’d say I’m not doing too badly so far with lots of reps and bodyweight exercises. But I’m very much looking forward to getting back to training with full equipment and such.

As things begin to get back to normal, gyms will probably be one of the last places to reopen and probably with a lot of rules, but hopefully very soon.

But as things begin to go back to normal and we go back to our day to day lives, the idea of our fitness and our new routines and habits will be put to the test. I believe it’s important to think about what’s to come. Think about how a busy day will change things. Think ahead and be honest about it.

The only one who ultimately holds me accountable is myself and, therefore, I must be honest with myself. I must think about how my training and fitness may be affected. Will I continue my training as before, make time for it, or change the way I train?

While many people have now realized there is so much more to fitness than just the body and the “perfect” physique. Many have newly noticed the impact it has on our general daily health and wellness as well as of course our physical fitness and its basic importance in living a regularly good and healthy life. As we’ve seen how the virus affected people who were less fit, less healthy, and with pre-existing conditions, naturally we all want to get fitter and healthier.

However, as our lives return to normal and our routines start to revert to what they were before the pandemic. As we go back to work with long commutes and long hours sitting in offices, building things, serving food or whatever the job. With less time to ourselves and the more general daily pressures and fatigue begin to kick in, the question of the importance of our health, exercise, and fitness may begin to take a back seat.

Will it be a case of reverting back to our old and previous habits? During the pandemic and lockdown we realized how important our mental health and state of mind were as we were stuck at home and we used exercise to help with it. We also had ‘time’ or made time for it. See, the problem is as tough as it was to work out from home with less motivation and potential accountability, we still had more time for it and generally due to lesser workloads, less daily pressures and responsibilities, we were less tired.  Once our days become fuller again and we can start meeting up with friends, or even go to the pubs, it may be less appealing to exercise. It can be tiring coming home after a day of work and all we may want to do is sit down and relax.

It’s something to start preparing for. This is why I’m bringing it up now. This is why it’s important to start thinking about it. I know how hard it can be when things change or when we get busy with life.

Preparation will help because it may not be just a matter of continuing on as you’ve been doing over the past couple of months or so. Think about how it will fit into your routine. Remember its importance in your life and how it can impact you and your life positively. Think about when you will have the time and energy to go and maybe add one extra session to push yourself just to make it a little less comfortable and a solid part of your routine.

Then have a thought about what kind of fitness you like to do, what kind of fitness works for you, what you want to achieve, your goals, and how you want to achieve them. Find a program that will help you within your general life and its constraints. And again, don’t overcommit. It will come as you get further into your regular routine. It will be tough some days, but those are the days when it’s even more worth it.