With the decline in Covid-19 cases in the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that everyone must remain vigilant and comply with pandemic safety protocols. While it is important to do so, it is also crucial to avoid slipping into a sedentary lifestyle using the many pandemic restrictions as an excuse.
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) states that exercise boosts the immune system and its response to inflammation and disease. It also reduces the negative impact of pandemic stress on the immune system.
Authorities advise that adults must have 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise each week and two days a week of muscle-strengthening exercise. If you are currently inactive, you must start at a lower intensity and for shorter periods. You must then slowly build up your intensity level and exercise period.
The best way to face the coronavirus pandemic is to plan a workout regimen based on your physical condition and abides by the pandemic guidelines for health and safety.
Exercise Outdoors
Experts found a link between vitamin D deficiency and the prevention of viral infection. It follows that sunlight is essential in the fight against Covid-19 and that exercising outdoors is beneficial. Breathing in the fresh air and being in an open space adds pleasure to outdoor exercise.
You must first make sure that exercising outdoors is already allowed in your community. Find out what areas are open for such activity. Ensure that the area is not crowded and if there are other people around, stay 12 feet away from them. This is double the usual distance you must keep when not exercising because exercise alters your breathing and increases the risk of getting or transmitting Covid-19.
While it is best to exercise in a place where there are no other people around, do not risk your safety. It is prudent not to venture to isolated areas alone. If you take a companion with you, choose someone from your household or bubble.
Running is the most common exercise to do outdoors, and anyone can do it without training. You must make sure you have the proper shoes to avoid getting hurt, though. Consider your feet’ condition and choose the right shoe if you have overpronation or underpronation or if you have wide or narrow feet. Find a brand of men’s and women’s running shoes like Altra that offers different models for all kinds of terrain, whether you will be running on a trail or a paved road.
Alternatively, you can go walking or cycling. If you live near a lake, you can go for a swim regularly.
Some parks have facilities for strength training, such as parallel bars for bodyweight training where you can do pullups and dips. You can also do squats, pushups, and planks outdoors.
Exercise Indoors
It is best to have options for indoor workouts when it is not possible to exercise outside. Assign a space in your home where you can do aerobic exercises and muscle strength training.
Aerobic exercise videos are available online, and you can follow dance routines and various aerobic workouts. There are even walk-in-place routines that carry the endorsement of the American Heart Association.
If you cannot miss a day of running, invest in a treadmill so you can still run indoors. There are models that you can fold and store for even the smallest living spaces.
If you love cycling outside, you can buy a stationary bike for indoor use. These also have foldable models that do not take up much space. You can download indoor cycling apps to make your routine more exciting.
You can also do your bodyweight exercises for strength training indoors. You can use chairs for dips. You can buy a pullup bar that you can install in a doorway.
A Fit Lifestyle
New Covid-19 variants appear, and life from here on can only be what people refer to as the new normal. Even as vaccines are being rolled out, there is no clear data yet on when the virus will be completely eradicated or if it is here to stay.
People must, therefore, continue to shore up their defenses and keep their immune systems in optimum condition. This reduces the possibility of infection, and if you get infected, it lowers the chances of having a serious course of the disease. It eases symptoms and helps achieve a faster recovery.
Working out must become part of everyone’s routine, and not only a matter of preference. Having a fit lifestyle must be part of the new normal.
