Umi Fitness | Exercise, isolation & mental health: 5 reasons to care

CoachGaz

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April 5, 2020

Structure is important
More than ever, having a routine when you're spending most of your time at home is super important. If you're not going to work daily right now, then it's likely that this unbridled opportunity for maximum sedentism will present a unique set of challenges. Those who are actually working from home have the same challenges. It just manifests differently. The main challenge is to maintain an adequate level of physical activity to offset the calories being consumed during an average day.
Why is this different to any other time? Well let's be honest. How many times have you opened the fridge today? More than 5 times? Breakfast, lunch and dinner and 3 snacks throughout the day is cool. Significantly more than this and it starts to sound a bit like boredom, not hunger.
Structuring the day, even at home, is a great way to avoid the pitfalls of simply letting the day unfold. Include exercise in your plans. Include meal planning strategies (interested in nutritional coaching?) The countless benefits of exercise include good mental health. That's especially relevant right now.
Keep your immune system firing on all cylinders
The benefits of exercise of any description are well documented. This includes helping your body to boost your immune system. I'm no expert but I know that if I get sick, it's a rarity. The same goes for my gym buddies. We're talking about years of training between us, and we have the same experience when it comes to illness. We rarely get sick. That's not saying we've got any immunity to any sickness at all. It's just an observation. The priority right now is actually about not taking any chances. Social distancing rules reinforce this strategy. If having a healthy and fit body will help to stay ahead of the virus then that's got to be worth pursuing. Even in Isolation. So now isn't the time to stop exercising at all. I see more people walking more dogs these days than I've seen in my life. And provided everyone follows the rules, that's fantastic.
So get on it. At home is the safest place to be and its the place to set up your fortress of fitness. Because if your fitness fades so does your ability to keep your immune system firing on all cylinders.
Focusing on what you can control helps with finding calmness
There's so much out there that is really scary right now. And people are scared. No-one doubts it. And the degree of fear is measurable against how empty the supermarket shelves are on any given day.
Fear is not useful for most of us. It's an inhibitor. If this sounds familiar then the solution is also well known. Focus not so much on the positives. That's what we're often told to do. Instead, focus on what you can control and change for the better. And then act. Action is imperative. Even if it's only about developing little habits like watching how much sugar you consume daily. From little things, big things grow.
Your health and fitness is one of those things. And there would be millions taking this very challenge around the country right now. So join in if you haven't already. We're happy to help wherever we can.
Physically and Mentally Fitness: two sides of one coin
Endorphins. The happy brain chemicals our bodies produce naturally. They're in abundance immediately following a workout. The tougher the workout , the bigger the high. That's why you see people sitting around in groups (pre-virus) recovering, celebrating, or commiserating. They're all experiencing a mutual high. They may not realize that it's happening. But it's a big reason why they turn up every day.
Now, imagine you go from experiencing that rush every day, to not feeling it for days on end. And imagine there is no end in sight. Well there's no need to imagine this because that's our reality right now. There's a real risk of something akin to withdrawal happening. We're always on the lookout for this phenomenon during normal times, when members are MIA for any significant period of time. The risk is heightened right now.
To combat this effect we've pivoted all our members to online personal coaching. That's because we know that wellness is the goal. Physical fitness is a component but so too is good mental health. We just have to figure out how to do this without seeing our crew in person every day. We don't do Zoom classes. We do one-on-one remote personal coaching and then we bring everyone together through other online platforms to actually experience the same togetherness we had previously. It takes a little more work. But no-one is being left behind to deal with this situation on their own and we help by keeping everyone moving.
Don't Press Pause on Gains: Maximize Accountability
PBs, more muscle mass, losing weight, getting toned etc. These are all goals we hear from members and clients. Gains or incremental progress made towards achieving these goals doesn't need to stop due to stay at home restrictions. No way. At least two of my clients are doing squat therapy drills every week as part of their schedule. It's necessary for them (and anyone) wanting to improve in the fundamentals of CrossFit.
There's also a misconception that strength gains can't be had at home. On the contrary. More thought needs to be put into programming and goal specific movements, but it's definitely possible. Coaching helps on that front too. And the one thing that is more important than ever in this regard is accountability. If you have goals then your success is going to come down to holding yourself accountable.
The self-motivated, get up and go-er will have few problems in this regard. But right now it's super easy for even the most committed and disciplined among us to fall off the wagon. We've developed our system of remote personal coaching to deal specifically with this issue. In many ways it's actually easier to deliver accountability for our clients using our online platforms and other tools.

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The Strength Cycle Explained

A strength cycle in strength and conditioning (S&C) or functional fitness training is a periodized training plan designed to systematically increase strength by focusing on key lifts and gradually increasing the intensity over time. It typically lasts anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks and is built around the principle of progressive overload, which means consistently challenging the muscles by incrementally increasing the weights, reps, or sets. The goal is to improve an your ability to lift heavier weights while maintaining proper form. This can apply to both performance focussed athletes looking to improve their results in workouts, or their chosen sports, and anyone who simply wants to build overall strength.