HOW TO MAINTAIN YOUR FITNESS AT HOME

It seemed to happen in a matter of days if not hours. Gyms shut down due to the quarantine and immediately all of the exercise equipment websites sold out of all their inventory. Dumbbells and kettlebells were nowhere to be found and people on eBay and Craigslist started raising the prices on the rusty equipment they found in their basements. Some people even got creative and fashioned dumbbells out of water jugs and backpacks and even used their pets and children as barbells for overhead squats. 

While this is a great indication that our society is starting to value exercise not only for physical health but mental health as well, a concern seemed to be growing amongst many people that they would soon start to lose all the progress they have worked so hard to develop. 

Not only do we all have different training histories and preferences, we also have different goals in mind. So rather than spelling out what makes a good or bad at-home training program (because that’s a faulty and unhealthy way to approach training programs anyway) we would prefer to discuss key principles and concepts to consider when constructing an at-home fitness program.  

Start with goals

All intelligent training programs begin with proper goal setting. You’ve probably heard of them before, but goals should be S.M.A.R.T (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-specific). For some this may mean readjusting training parameters (discussed below) while staying on track for the same goal as before quarantine. If you have been training for a marathon in 6 months it’s likely that you’ll still be able to continue on that process with some simple rearrangement of when and where you run as well as your strength training program depending on equipment and time available. However, if your goal before quarantine was to bench press 315 pounds and you currently have a 225 bench press without any access to a bench press currently then that goal may need to be adjusted a little bit. Whether quarantine lasts for 6 weeks or 6 months (let’s hope not), goals can still be laid out and achieved so long as they make sense for you and your circumstances. 

Adjust your parameters

Maybe you’re used to hitting the gym 3 times per week for 90 minutes at a time and you rest 2-3 minutes between sets. Your typical training intensity is moderate enough to generate some fatigue but nothing that you can’t recover from. It might be difficult to find 90 consecutive minutes in any given day while working from home. And if you’re like most people who were locked out of their gyms overnight then you likely do not have a full weight set at home to recreate the loads you’re accustomed to for effective training. It’s important in this particular scenario to remember that the results do not come from the specifics of your training program but from your individual response to the stimulus you are placing on yourself. So what that might look like for you is to do 6 workouts per week for 45 minutes at a time and limiting yourself to 60-75 seconds of rest between sets. And instead of doing 5 sets of 5 on the bench press at about 75% effort level you start doing 8 sets of pushups at varied angles and hand placements all to complete failure. What you’ll likely notice from this example is increased fatigue in a shorter amount of time, thus forcing your body to recognize the need to develop more muscle tissue. 

While this is just one example, it speaks to the importance of taking an inventory of your training volume, intensities, and frequencies and adjusting each of those parameters to drive an adequate amount of fatigue in order to foster the adaptations that bring you closer to the goals you have decided on while you’re still at home.                                                       

Realize that muscle maintenance requires much less work than muscle hypertrophy

Most of us do not spend our precious free time in the gym or logging running miles simply to stay stagnant in our health status. If anything, we’re constantly striving to get bigger, faster, or stronger. It’s important to remember that during times like these we don’t need to work as hard or as much as we have been if our temporary goal while we’re in quarantine is to maintain the progress that we’ve already made. In fact, this has been studied quite a bit in the literature that the amount of training needed to maintain muscle size and strength is significantly less than the amount of training to build muscle tissue. The reason why we don’t see this as such is because this sudden decrease in training activity can lead to unintended weight gain. However, this weight gain can be mitigated by some of the tips mentioned in our previous blog regarding how to adjust your nutrition at home. 

Consider the bigger picture

While we applaud efforts to achieve specific performance goals, our underlying belief in this particular time in history is that something is better than nothing. Sure, you aren’t going to improve your snatch or your clean and jerk without access to a barbell, but that doesn’t take away from the benefit of doing some single leg squats and situps for a few weeks. And if you are a competitive strength athlete it just might be in your best interest from a health perspective to participate in some steady-state cardio for cardiovascular health purposes. Jogging may not give you a heavier squat at USA Powerlifting National Championships but it’s probably good for your heart and longevity as a human being.

The fact of the matter is the vast majority of our society is “under-exercised” enough as it is that we would prefer to see people engage in regular physical activity regardless of the method, particularly when quarantine is likely to lead to more sedentary behaviors. 

Recovery still matters

Finally, none of this matters if you are unable to adequately recover from the new stimuli you are exposing yourself to. Remember that recovery is dependent on sleep, nutrition, and stress management. This time of social distancing is not particularly on anybody - sleep schedules are altered, sleep quality is disrupted, nutrition is in constant flux, and stress is likely at an all time high. All of these factors will impact your ability to respond positively to your training stress and should be considered when restructuring your training program. It is perfectly acceptable in this context to put performance goals on the back burner and structure your workouts to simply be stress-relieving moments throughout the day. You may even find that allowing yourself space to sleep more, train with less intensity, and participate in different types of activity will allow you to return to your normal training routine with increased enthusiasm, focus, and energy to make more significant strides in your progress when things return to normal. 

If you are looking for guidance on how to structure (or restructure) your workouts effectively during this time of social distancing please do not hesitate to reach out to us by clicking one of the buttons below. Our monthly remote consulting option is likely to be of great value to you for the time being.