After the Lockdown

As the lockdowns around the world slowly come to an end, we will all be getting back to work and back in the gym.  What does that mean for your fitness journey?

Back to Work

This was the image I found yesterday, telling me that Skagit County was not yet eligible to move into “phase 2” of the state’s re-opening plan.  Phase 2 is when businesses like mine (in-home/personal services, professional services one-on-one, and fitness groups of less than 5) will be allowed to open again.

This morning, I search the Googles to find this headline:

Between May 15th-28th, we only had 11 new cases of COVID-19, which brings us beneath the 10 cases per 100,000 residents threshold determined by the Governor.  This means I will be open for business again on Monday, June 1st, along with many other Skagit County businesses.

Many of my clients will be back to work as well, but not back to “normal”.  All the routines have been disturbed, and it will be a while still until gyms are operating at full capacity again.  So, what does this mean for your fitness?

Back in the Gym

My gym here at home will be open and operating, so that means personal training one-on-one and in-person meetings for consultation or assessment.  Many larger gyms, studios, and health clubs in our area will also be re-opening for personal training and groups classes of 5 or less.  For my clients, that means the era of home workouts being your only option is coming to an end.

What’s the first thing you need to do now?  Re-examine your priorities.  I talked about this two days ago.  It starts with some deep thought, maybe writing a few notes on paper or a white board, but it really ought to proceed into a conversation with someone who understands your fitness goals and can share advice.  (Click here to schedule a consultation if that’s what you’re looking for).  Knowing what you want, why you want it, and how much time and effort you’re able to devote to that are all critical pieces of understanding to develop your new plan going forward.

The next step is assessment.  Assessment is truth.  Guessing is lies.  It’s like standing next to your friend and saying, “I’m about the same height as you,” then both standing next to a ruler and realizing you’re 4 inches shorter.  Assessment tells you what is real.

After 2 1/2 months of lockdown at home, it probably doesn’t make sense to take ‘progress’ photos and assess skinfolds, scale weight, or bodyfat percentage.  However, it DOES make sense to assess your squat, plank, and 10 minutes on the airbike.  We already know that most people’s physiques did not improve during this lockdown.  If you think it did, well don’t guess, we can assess that too–but later.  Firstly, we need to assess range-of-motion, strength, and work capacity.  These are the characteristics that are going to guide your new training plan.

We have the talk, we get the data, and then we start easing you into a new process of training.  It’s probably a hybrid of at-home workouts with some gym stuff–maybe here with me, maybe elsewhere–and some outdoor stuff.

After that, it’s all execution.  The most important part of the training process, after all, is YOU actually doing the work.  Now that the lockdown is over, we can return to the feeling that we’re making forward progress again.