Snap Lockdown!

Here we go again, team

With the announcement of another hopefully short and sharp level 4 lockdown from Wednesday, there have been a number of mixed feelings and emotions.  Being self-employed, a number of things come up for me: Will it really be 3 days?  Surely even if it is, they will graduate it down the levels, so how long will it be before the gym can open?  What does that mean for us?  How do we look after our members?  How do we look after our team and contractors?  What worked last time? How do we keep generating income? What’s been the drop in income already?  What assistance is available? Do we qualify?

All this is before taking into consideration children, family and other commitments let alone exercise. And groceries!  The toilet paper hoarders will be back!

So basically with this new snap lockdown, we had a lot going on, and we didn’t really get a chance to prepare for exercise.  

In previous lockdowns, we knew that there was going to be an initial short-term lockdown period of at least 2 weeks.  We had a timeline and a small opportunity to be able to get some equipment from stores or online if they weren’t sold out.   As a gym, we loaned out a lot of our training equipment to our members to keep them active.  But this time with the Delta variant we aren’t afforded this luxury.  It was very quickly into hopefully a short and effective lockdown.

Through those 6 hours from 6.00 pm and 11.59 pm on Tuesday night, we had a very small window to get ourselves sorted.  Realistically even less, as we were probably already tied up in finishing current activities for the day like getting kids back from sports practice, cooking dinner, and reacting to the situation to see what changes that meant for work tonight or the next day.

It’s ok, we have done it all before so we will be alright. Right?

And it is only for a short time isn’t it?  I can just go for a run or a walk. As far as progress towards our health and fitness goals, even these few days can mean a lot, for those of us who regularly use the gym and for those that are more sporadic or don’t use it at all.

So with this short duration lockdown have we been provided with a threat that will derail our progress towards achieving our health, fitness, and well-being goals?  Or have we been provided with an opportunity to make some further progress towards them?  

Well, what are our thoughts on this lockdown?  Is it a necessary or unnecessary disruption that we need to work around? Is it a chance to have a little break and a training/nutrition holiday? You might find your answers when you look at the first items of importance to you when you stocked your groceries!  What snuck in that may not have normally been there?

Realistically not a lot is going to change if this lockdown is 3 to 5 days, but I think that we are being a little naïve if we expect this to be the case.  I don't see it being a snap back out of lockdown and back to normality. There will be some catching up to do again. So, I am all on for some planning.  If we make a plan to succeed we are more likely to get there, whereas if we don’t plan it's more likely we don't know where we will end up.  

So, where to from here?  How about you make your plan and then live your plan!

For some of you that have been training hard and lifting heavy, there is some evidence that a period of absolute rest may actually be beneficial for you.  After all, most of our growth, repair and adaptation takes place when we rest.  Even when we sleep!  But realistically not many of us are in threat of overtraining, so we should probably make a better plan than rest (and you still have to eat well!).

What are some other options we can try to either maintain or progress towards our health, fitness, and training goals?  Can we use this snap lockdown to try a different activity?  Do we try walking, running, or cycling? It's great to be outside and enjoy some fresh air and sunshine with less cars around.

Playing games or activities with the kids.  I know that I enjoyed watching some fantastic activities that my friends were doing with their kids and posting on Facebook last time, and I posted a few videos myself.  Even getting into food prep and cooking with the kids are things that not only keep you active and encourage good habits but allow more quality time.

Mobility, stretching, meditation, or yoga.  Starting a routine that you may be able to continue with when you get back to the gym.  Most times when we have pain it is because our muscles are overly short and tight on one side and longer, weaker or inactive on the other as a result of our everyday activities.  Creating some better body balance can really help counter this.

Bodyweight workouts with a PT, in a class, or with an app.  Our PTs are trying to maintain some normality in your routine if you regularly use PT, even if you haven’t tried a virtual session before.  We did so many virtual PT sessions over the initial lockdown and still have clients that do it weekly or in addition to their in-person sessions too.  You may be surprised at how challenging they can be.  There are also complimentary classes that you can join in on to train with our team.

Doing some longer-term planning for an 8, 10, or 12-week challenge.  Spring and therefore summer is not very far away.  Is there a time coming up where you want to feel your best?  Now could be the time to draw a line in the sand and make a start.  Use the gift of time that you may have just been given now.

So wherever things are with you, have you been given a training threat?  Or a training opportunity?  And will you react accordingly?  Whatever your answer is, we are here to help with a team of Personal Trainers and a Nutritionist so maybe check in and see if we can not only get you on track, but keep you there and push you a little closer to your goal.

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