The importance of some fitness, some routine, and some relaxation, for some. Balance = Mental Sanity.
Well it seems this quarantine period has handed out a lot of Personal Training qualifications, and you’re in luck guys because I’ve just awarded myself mine. We’ll get to the actual work-outs and PT stuff later. First let me do a bit with my self awarded Psychology PHD and the mental health aspects of diet and fitness in this Covid19 era.
One of the biggest things that the lockdown has done, is take away routine from people’s days and weeks. While some people can manage and actually might enjoy the freedom, some nerds would want that structure back. This is where I think fitness and working out can lend a huge helping hand.
This ‘working’ from home/ not working at all has vacated a number of hours in people’s days. While entertaining to begin with, those used to being/ feeling like being productive could quickly begin to feel a bit useless and wasteful. The freedom of doing things in your own time, is also something most are not used to, and its totally understandable to procrastinate, eat a lot, sleep late and be very inefficient in a lot of regards to begin with. I’ve been doing a lot of the above, but without any self loathe; having trained a lot recently in Thailand, I’ve given myself a two week window where I don’t mind the discipline waivering in terms of food, as long as I keep up some form of training. This is where it is very important to know your goals, for some, if you were taking a fat loss phase seriously, this kind of behaviour would cause you to regress massively. Apart from those of you in a strict fat loss phase, if you are or have been guilty of late hours, bad diets and lack of output, honestly don’t beat yourself up over it. Who cares. There’s a few more months of this lockdown, so a week or two of letting your hair down is totally acceptable – just don’t create bad habits that will last, because ultimately the discipline is all going to HAVE to come from within yourself.
It is important that if you do let yourself relax a bit, you set boundaries and stick to them, otherwise you’ll end up feeling like a bum. You will also end up ruining the the period where you’re meant to be enjoying certain bum-being luxuries ie. finishing 3 magnums and a bowl of popcorn in front of Planet of the Apes at 4am and falling asleep on the couch – WITHOUT FEELING BAD – that stuff is only fun and worth it if you have justified it beforehand. If you are going to self hate, just don’t do it – learn from the previous 246 times. Remember you cannot lie to yourself, and mental health is always the priority; if you are not feeling good about yourself, then it is down to ONLY you to change aspects of your life and rectify the problem. No – one is going to come and bail you out and you. In my experience of life, thinking too much about problems makes them worse. There are normally pretty simple solutions that just require the action of DOING, especially in the field of fitness. Most fitness/ diet related issues just require LAZINESS to be replaced with WILL POWER.
Okay, now everyone feels better about their lockdown mourning antics, lets move on to adding exercise into your day and potentially planning meals around it. Even if you weren’t a gym activist before, I would strongly recommend using your 1 a day quota of getting out, whether it be a walk, jog or run. Staying inactive indoors, is obviously seriously unhealthy and unnatural, both mentally and physically. Also with God’s latest prank of UK’s longest consecutive stretch of days with blue skies, it might be good to get some Vitamin D (unless you are my skin colour – then lotion up or wear a mask). You could factor in a run, say before you start your day of work, to replace your commute to work (something that was a constant in your life before) – you’re waking up at a good time and getting the blood moving, to repeat daily. It will also give you more bedtime accountability – knowing you want to wake up well rested. Perhaps that breakfast you used to eat when you arrived at work is now your post run meal. You’re getting that old structure back into your day, giving yourself motivation to wake up at a certain hour and make the most of your day – with or without work.
Also remember, even if you didn’t go to the gym before, you’re no longer getting your regular movement of just a standard day going in to the office – there has to be a substitute. To be honest, I don’t think people need convincing to use the one outdoors a day, but if you do crave that routine to be productive in your day, use it as a constant, to plan your day around. Get your housemates/ family involved – so much more motivation in a pair/group and easier to do, as anyone who goes gym will tell you, and actually a really nice way to bond. In a time like this where you are not socialising outside, its important you maintain healthy relationships within your quarantine. Exercising together can only be a positive because it is one of the only things in the world, that you would never ever regret afterwards – basically guaranteed happiness all round, unless someone gets injured. Now more than ever, is a time to share the benefits, and encourage and motivate those around you to get involved – spread the wisdom and help others if you see them struggling and unhappy with themselves. We are not America. This is not every man for themselves.
As humans who have spent the majority of our lives being productive and experiencing the reward mechanism, a period of no work and confinement can lead to people feeling quite lost, unproductive and empty. Exercise can help bring that back somewhat, as most of us associate that feel-good factor with fitness, knowing that you’re doing something to better yourself – there is also a proven endorphin release when you work out. Regulars at the gym also know what it does for general energy levels – something that can become dangerously low when you are house bound for extended periods of time. Remember, we have never experienced something like this lockdown before, so if working out makes you feel good, then do it more than once in the day. You have your gardens, rooms etc. for a second, even third workout some days (I will provide various examples and plans over the next week, including weighted workouts, if you are one of the fortunate few to have got your hands on that kryptonite, bodyweight HIT workouts with alternative movements for beginners and advanced, and some resistance bands workouts).
Even people that were regulars at the gym before, should experiment to maybe spread out the enjoyment of gym with a few smaller sessions through the day, as opposed to one big one – all dependent on if you actually enjoy the gym of course! The multiple sessions in a day is also a great hack to reduce our repeated walks to the fridge/ kitchen cupboards which at some point is going to result in an unavoidable binge out of boredom. People good with their diet tend to eat healthily around working out periods, the challenge comes late evening – maybe add in a 10 minute workout close to bedtime? There is no right or wrong here, because we are all experiencing a lockdown scenario in a pandemic for the first time in our life, it is all trial and error and to work out what makes you the best version of yourself/feel the best. Different things will be better for different people but I do believe, that on the whole, working out is a good way out.
Accountability and discipline are key in this process. It is easy to have these plans and ideas in your head, but given so much freedom (I know the irony here), by the lack of people to answer to, or to assess your actions, laziness and lack of motivation can easily take over. It’s tough to be accountable to yourself and maintain discipline when you have no one checking if you are doing what you are meant to be doing, especially if you are used to having a boss – because it initially feels like a luxury to get away with things, which you’re likely to abuse. If you do initially falter, it’s normal and okay, but that’s why its important to set yourself goals and punish yourself accordingly if you lapse. Always remember why you chose to do something, and the rational decision making process involved when planning, is likely to have considered your longer term mental satisfaction. Now when you lapse in diet or training, it will be for the instant gratification of taste or a relaxing bout of laziness, but these decisions are made with total disregard for anything other than that moment. Until you have more control over your training and diet, take measures to improve your discipline. If you skip a session, do an extra one each of the next 2 days. If have the extra couple of cookies, make yourself run for an extra 15 minutes. Make the consequence bigger than the indiscretion, to teach yourself discipline quicker.
Think about this. You go for an hour run and feel shattered, but good knowing you’ve burnt off 700 calories and started your day really well, great for your fat loss GOAL…Later that day you are bored, in front of the TV watching the latest speech on how you might be looking at another 3 months locked with your family, and stress eat a big bag of Doritos. In just 10 minutes, you have consumed what took an hour of toil to burn. You understand why food, calories and nutrition are the most important part of any transformation process. This is why are your goals are important – you need to know your why. If you are going for a stress relief run and don’t care about weight, go enjoy that pizza – good for you. If you are trying to lose weight then don’t – maybe look into meal preparation to remove decision making fatigue/ track calories on MyFitnessPal (more on this stuff in another piece). But where’s your accountability really? It should be in your head. You actually can’t lie to yourself and if an action doesn’t make you feel good, that should be all the accountability you need. Remember, the end goal is always happiness, so even with all this talk of discipline and being strict, find some sort of balance – that is the hardest equation of them all.
For all I have said about the benefits of fitness and nutrition, I really think in a period such as what is going on now, mental health trumps all. It is just my belief that exercise is a good way of keeping routine, feeling energised and productive – but that might not necessarily be your opinion. As I always say, back your own brain in making decisions best for you, don’t just blindly follow, but also don’t lie to yourself. Do what makes you honestly feel good, but when making a decision or planning, think about that 15 minutes before you sleep when you think about your day and life with no distractions – do you think that decision would contribute to you feeling more content just before bed, because that is the key to life, falling asleep at peace with the world, that is the Wise You talking.
PS. FUTURE GENERATIONS WILL HAVE COVID19 TO THANK FOR MARATHON RUNNERS EMERGING FROM THE UK. KEEP RUNNING KIDS.
Stay Inside
Go Outside (just once)
Keep active
Relax
Eat healthily
Enjoy food sometimes – balance is key
Learn Discipline
Don’t be too hard on yourself, it’s not an easy time.
Keep spreading positivity and encourage those around you – don’t let anyone feel lonely.
This Covid19 lockdown business is very confusing. Good luck. Keep Smiling.
We’re all in this together
Live, laugh and love
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