4 Super Quick Tips to get back into the gym!
On June 13th, the NSW Government allowed gyms and fitness centres all around the state to re-open and allow people to take care of their physical and mental health. Make no mistake, people’s health (mental and physical) did suffer in recent times so this is a great announcement. With so many overseas countries still battling this serious virus, I’m constantly reminded on how lucky we are to live in this country.
As soon as gyms all around the country closed, there was a big scramble to online Fitness training and Outdoor sessions. It started great and people really enjoyed the online workouts. But as time went on, I could see motivation levels drop and the novelty wear off. Towards the end of isolation, people were simply not motivated to train online anymore and were itching to get back to the gym.
And now we’re back, and it’s so great to see all the BHC members back training hard. They’ve loved lifting weights again, boxing, using the cardio equipment and engaging with the community again. To ensure the safety of all our members and clients, we’ve adhered to strict cleaning protocols and the gym is as clean as ever.
Now, as people return back to the gym, you can’t expect to train exactly as you were before. We’ve all had a 3 month lay off from the gym and so you can’t expect to jump straight back in. Even if you kept up the online, or outdoor training, it’s not quite the same and you’ll still feel different on your first few workouts back.
So here are my top 3 quick tips on how to best return back to the gym:
1) Get a Personal Trainer:
I swear to God I’m not just trying to sell you PT sessions!!! ha ha. If you can find a good Personal Trainer, then buy a few sessions to get you started and keep you accountable. Working with a good local Personal Trainer is the number one option if available. A good trainer will make sure you have good technique and movement, constantly monitor you to see what level of intensity to train you at, and most importantly, give you the best fitness program to kick start your progress. Without a trainer, or an individual program, you’ll just be guessing your way through it.
2) Start slowly and ease into it. The advice I’ve been giving to my PT clients is to perform exercises like you're relearning a skill, as opposed to trying to lift as heavy as you can. So go light on the weights at first, and get the technique right before anything. Lifting too heavy a weight with bad technique only leads to one thing, a bad injury.
Think of it like any other skill, such as golf, the Piano, Surfing. Think about how good you’ll be after a 3 month layoff. Take the same approach to the gym.
3) Stick to all over workouts, done more frequently.
ie. it's better to perform 3 x full body workouts in a week as opposed to one day upper body, one day lower body. Once you get into a rhythm, say after a month of training, then you can focus on particular body parts.
So if Pre-Covid, you were Squatting, Deadlifting, Bench Pressing, each once a week, perhaps try and combine 2 heavy lifts per workout and perform them twice a week. That way, you’ll get back on the bike quicker. (This is a metaphor. Bench Pressing will not LITERALLY help you get back on a bike. This is a common saying……)
4) Perform shorter, more frequent workouts. It's better to do 20 minutes every day as opposed to 2 workouts that last one hour each. When you’re new to fitness or coming back after a long layoff, frequency beats length of the workout. As your fitness levels improve, then you can start to lengthen the workouts to accommodate for your improved fitness. But if you’re stuffed after 20 minutes in the gym, then there’s no use in doing more work, as you won’t be seeing the returns and you’ll be wasting time basically.
And that’s it. I tried to keep this super short because I know how busy you are and my copywriting skills probably isn’t the best. But here’s my dad joke of the week if you’re still reading:
So many people these days are just too judgemental. I can tell by looking at them.
Jerome Samaha