Going back to exercise

19 Mar Going back to exercise

With a vast majority of the population being vaccinated and the impending roll out of booster, more public spaces are starting to reopen. This means that many of us can get back to our normal fitness regimes. The to gyms, sports and exercise might just be the encourage that we need to improve our fitness levels in order to stay healthy.

Although it is very exciting to get back to our normal exercise routines and fitness centres, we be mindful to over do and injure ourselves.

Due to Covid – 19 and the various of lockdown that was experienced, our exercise routines were skipped and our fitness levels were diminished. Although the few dedicated fitness fanatics of us managed to maintain it, the majority of us have not. Thus, we need to be aware of the fact that our bodies are no longer condition to handle our normal pre-covid regimes.

Time is needed to retrain our bodies to its previous fitness levels, regardless of whether you want to start lifting a specific weight, run, swim, or cycle a certain distance under a certain amount of time, or just wanting to regain the skills needed for your favourite sport. A structured plan is needed, so we can mitigate any chance of injury and ensure that we correctly ease ourselves back to fitness.

If you are starting to ease back into any form of fitness or exercise, please consider the following tips to help decrease the risk of an injury occurring.

• Make sure to warm-up correctly:
  warming up before part taking in any form of exercise is often overlooked or completely bypassed. Warming up is a necessary part of excessive as, prepares the body for the activity and gradually revs the cardiovascular system by warming up your body temperature and increasing blood flow to the muscles. An appropriate warm up should focus on the muscle activation and stretching which is relative to your fitness routine.

Pace yourself:
Start off with small amount of activity, to ease yourself back into exercise:
It is vital that you do not jump straight into your pre-covid fitness activities, especially if you had very little to no exercise during the lockdowns. Just because you are mentally able to manage and complete your pre-covid workouts, your body may not be able to physically accomplish it, because a lack of activity can result in reduced stamina, endurance and body strength.  Therefore, if you ran 3km everyday pre-covid, start now by running 1.5km daily until you can once again successfully complete your pre-covid workout goals.

By gradually increasing your exercise. Do this by lowering the amount of sets / reps that you do, the amount of days spent training and distance covered. Then slowly increase your activity over the first 4 – 6 weeks as you retrain yourself back to your pre-covid fitness levels. Please remember that rest days are just as important as exercise days, as it allows your body to adapt to increased activity and recover from any strain.

• If needed get professional advice:
  get an expert’s opinion before and during your return to exercise can be helpful for determining and suitable program and strategies to reach your fitness goals. A personal trainer or osteopath can advise on the appropriate exercise for your age and fitness levels.
• Give your body time to recover:
  it is important that your body recovers when you are training, as will it allow for an easier adaptation towards long term treatment goals. Stretching, cool downs, hydration and nutrition are all important part of the recovery process. Osteopathic treatment can also be preformed to help you recover. Osteopathy is a great option for treating and strains, tightness, stiffness and aches in the body.

At OsteoVision we encourage that you get active, healthy and stiff, as it is a great way to take care of your musculoskeletal health. We will glad assist you with any questions that you have regarding fitness and exercise.

Call:     03303  904 300
Email:  info@osteovision.life
You can also book an appointment online at www.osteovision.life