Get Ready for Gyms Reopening

So lockdown restrictions are starting to ease for many of us which means gyms are reopening. Yay! The lockdown period has meant making do with what we have at home to work with and for many of us, our training intensity and activity levels have dropped. Therefore it's inevitable that our strength and stamina may have taken a little hit in the process. We may have even gained a few pounds along the way too.

Our bodies need time to adapt in order to avoid injury and to make change to meet the new demands of any activity. So when we get back to training we need to patient with our bodies and focus on gradually building up the intensity and volume of training sessions again.

The saying “use it or lose it” applies here, particularly when many of us will have found ourselves sat down a lot more than usual during lockdown. Try to include a couple of stretching and mobility sessions a week to reduce tension and tightness. Not only will this help you transition back into the gym and reduce your chance of injury but it can also help with exercise form and improve your range of motion.

Look to reduce the amount of weight, the number of reps or both when you first come back to the gym, then increase it again gradually as you get back into your routine. For cardio, consider reducing both the intensity and length of your workouts and consider adding some gentle active recovery sessions into your weekly regime instead of going flat out.

It can be frustrating to do this because we know we have the potential to do more. However, going back in at the level you left off will be a sure fire way to get injured and then you'll set yourself back even more. Be patient when you return.

Another good tip is to have a written plan where you can track your progress. This way you can make notes of the weight, reps etc. that you do and slowly increase them over the course of the following month or so. Not making notes, will probably result you not increasing the overall volume of the workouts in a manageable way and delaying your return to full strength.

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