A Few Things to Remember as Gyms Start Opening Back Up
Gyms have officially opened up in Miami. Have they opened up in your area? I am still waiting a bit longer until I go back. I have a lot of equipment at my house that I can make do with and I just don’t feel comfortable just yet. I haven’t even gone back to teaching at F45, but hopefully soon.
That being said, I know we are all very excited to go back. However, we do need to take precautions both health wise and physically. Most of us have been limited with equipment, or doing much lower weights than before or completely stopped going. All are completely ok but you want to take that into account when you go back. So here are a couple of tips:
1️⃣ Be responsible. Wipe down equipment and follow gym rules without complaining.
2️⃣ Be smart. Just because you’re back at the gym doesn’t mean you’re gonna go back to lifting the same weights you used to (pre-quarantine). Take your time and ease back into it. A lot of what you’ve lost are neurological adaptations (aka movements your brain knows). Those are usually the first to “go” with detraining and the first to come back when you resume.
3️⃣ Don’t freak out because the scale went up. Your using heavier weights and more equipment, your body will store more glycogen (I.e fuel for muscles). Muscular HYPERTROPHY (muscle size) is an adaptation that takes a lot longer to “arrive”, so it takes longer to “leave.”
4️⃣ Be kind to your body. So your body may have changed a bit, that’s ok. You just went/and still are going through a pandemic. Appreciate the extra downtime you’ve had. Remember no one is perfect and there is no right way to do a pandemic.
5️⃣ Don’t be influenced into doing a cleanse, crash dieting, or endless hours at the gym. Give it time... progress not perfection.
Enjoy your time back and let your body do what it knows how to do.