With more and more people going into self isolation and gym/fitness centres closing a lot of you may be wondering what you can do to stay active. It is so important in these difficult and unusual times that we fight the temptation of the lounge or the comfy chair and work to keep our bodies and our minds as active and healthy as possible.
Try this little test:
- Take 5 really slow deep breaths , as deep in as you can then as far out as you can.
- Turn your body as far as you can to the right and the left 3 times.
- Lift your arms as high as you can 5 times.
Having done just that little bit how do you feel now? Better? It doesn’t take much to start making a difference! By the way if any of that hurt or you are now puffed you really need to do a bit more! Of course everyone has a different exercise capacity. Thankfully the current recommendations allow for outdoor activities as long as you maintain proper social distancing. This leaves some very good scalable options such as walking/running, bushwalking, biking and exercises in a park.
Simple exercises that you can do at home are also good. Things like:
- lying on the ground then standing up several times in a row
- sitting to standing from a chair
- planking or push ups
- crunches or sit-ups
- picking up weights
- kick a ball against a wall
- throwing and catching a ball
- dancing
Everyone has one of the best tools for working out available all the time no matter where they are. BODY WEIGHT! The amazing thing about body weight exercise is you can scale it based upon your ability. For example, ee all know about push-ups but not everyone can do one! So to make push-ups easier on yourself you can shorten the lever (ie go down to your knees, this changes the load you would have to pushup) or you can change the angle by placing your hands on a chair, counter or wall. The reverse is also possible, where you can work harder by elevating your feet up you can change the centre of gravity and load to be more on the chest muscles. Some exercises are a little more tricky to figure out but there is a way to work out every muscle group with a sufficient load for your individual goals!
If you want some help designing and implementing your own program there are many options available. Here at Back To Health Physiotherapy we can offer online advice and guidance. We can do this through Skype or video conferencing. We can also help through the “Physiotrack” app with detailed instructions and a personalised program sent to your phone.
If you aren’t in quarantine you can also still come into the practice where we can work out a specific program customised to meet your needs and capacity. We are screening everyone as they enter the premises and work hard to continue to provide a safe environment for everyone to work in.
But for now, keep yourself active and moving, your body will thank you once we are all through this crisis!
