We Go Again

Last week, Thursday November 5^th, England was put back into a national lockdown. With it, meant that all none essential shops would close including hospitality and leisure centres. Once again, gyms have been mandated to shut nationwide for the duration of the month, and hopefully only as long as a month.

While we have been told that obesity puts us at a higher mortality risk should one catch the virus, gyms are closed, but our health and fitness is still very much of importance. Our mental health and wellness must equally be considered of high significance. In times of isolation, and no access to leisure centres, it can be tough to keep ourselves well.

The implication is that we don’t need to work on our fitness. But, on the contrary, it’s even more important and should be a priority. As I’ve written in previous posts, you don’t need a gym to work on your general health, wellness, and fitness even if it is beneficial and does help. It’s not a necessity.

I’m not too bothered about these closures if I’m honest, well as long as it doesn’t go on too long. There is more to life than lifting heavy weight and having the ‘perfect’ physique. As much as I believe this, however, I do sometimes need reminding of this fact. I can get carried away with my training and as I’ve only been back to the gym for a month since the last lockdown, I was getting excited and back into it. My strength was coming back finally. Even though I maintained my fitness levels over the first lockdown, my strength suffered somewhat.

I’m just happy I managed to get some time back in the gym. It was great to work with full equipment again and do some of my favourite exercises again even if they were at a lighter and slower pace. The best part of course was seeing everyone again.

With the short time back in full training, I think I managed to top up some of my fitness levels which I will try to maintain with home and outdoor training. The little bit of equipment that I did have the first time round is gone. The bands just kept getting shorter and shorter with every use until there was just a few inches of them left. The five kilo dumbbells were stolen from the truck. But I’ve moved since the last lockdown, and this time I have a small park next to my house which I hope to take advantage of.

The toughest part is most probably the motivation and discipline which gets more complicated when you can’t train properly or switch to gym mode etc. If you’re having a hard time with this, think about why you’re doing it in the first place, think about the benefits it will bring you and how you will feel after a training session.

And of course, if you are having a hard time, feel free to reach out to us at LIFE ON FITNESS or myself if you just need a little bit of inspiration, motivation, or push to keep it going.

Hopefully, this lockdown doesn’t last for too long, gyms will reopen soon, and we can get back to it.