The recent pandemic has forced most of us to stay locked inside our homes, presenting a number of unexpected challenges, one of which was maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle. While some got creative with their workouts at home, others couldn’t find the motivation to stay active at all, both of which are understandable considering these unprecedented circumstances. But as the gyms are starting to open up again, and the world is slowly going back to normal, you might be wondering how you can return to a fitness routine safely after quarantine. Here are some tips that might help:
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1. Ease into the fitness routine
If you haven’t been active for several months, a sudden strenuous workout routine could be quite a shock to your body, leading to pulled muscles, injuries, and other forms of discomfort. For that reason, you should start your fitness journey slowly, and focus on light to moderate exercises such as jogging, swimming or flexibility workouts at the beginning.
What’s more, if you ease into an exercise routine, and slowly build the ideal workout that’s perfectly suited to you, you will ensure that you stay consistent throughout your fitness journey. Hard work, persistency and consistency are all essential for gaining lasting results, and achieving the figure you’ve always dreamed about.
2. Gradually add more difficult workouts
After the first week or two of moderate exercise, you can start adding more difficult workouts into your routine. Start with cardio exercises that will get your heart racing, while burning those stubborn calories that were built up during quarantine. This could be anything from a low-impact HIIT workout to gym equipment like bikes, ellipticals and treadmills.
Then, you can move on to strength training exercises that will allow you to build muscle, and get back the strength you might have lost during the period of inactivity in lockdown. Opt for exercises such as bridges, squats, lunges and hamstring curls, for instance, and then gradually move on to more strenuous bodyweight workouts.
3. Add a protein powder into your routine
Another thing you could do to motivate yourself for a workout is to add a good protein drink into your fitness routine. Such a helpful supplement will give you the boost of energy you need for powering through a difficult workout, while offering numerous benefits for your performance and fitness results.
If you opt for the best vegan protein powder available, not only will it feel more like a delicious treat than a workout supplement, but will also help you to build strength, and grow and maintain muscle mass. A healthy and versatile protein could also aid in post-workout recovery, ultimately being the best option for supporting your fitness journey and ensuring you achieve optimal results with your workouts.
4. Don’t forget about warm-ups and cool-downs
Although often overlooked, both warm-up and cool-down sessions are incredibly important for any exercise routine, especially after a period of inactivity. Proper warm-up exercises will help to prepare your body for the increase in activity that’s about to follow, while a cool-down after your routine will return your heart rate to normal and help to release muscle tension.
To avoid any muscle soreness and injury that might occur when your body hasn’t been accustomed to physical activity for a while, ease into your exercises with a good warm-up routine, consisting of lunges, squats, planks and arm circles, for instance. Then, opt for a proper cool-down session after a workout, such as a 5 to 10-minute stretching routine.
5. Make rest days a regular habit
Don’t make the mistake of rushing into a full fitness routine, and exercising seven days a week as soon as you start. Recovery is an incredibly important aspect of an active lifestyle, especially after you’ve been inactive for months during quarantine. If you don’t take some necessary days off, your body won’t get the chance to replenish muscles and rebuild strength and energy.
So, make it a point to have one or two days of active rest a week, when you will focus on gentle stretching or light walking, instead of a strenuous exercise routine. That way, you will be able to promote recovery, while also creating a more consistent fitness routine you can easily stick to.
While returning to fitness after months of inactivity during quarantine can be a difficult decision, slowly easing into an exercise routine and staying consistent on your journey will allow you to work out more safely, and achie
