This period of social isolation has been hard for many. For some the motivation to keep active just hasn’t been there (and that’s totally okay). Here are some tips for those of you looking to bring physical activity back into your life!
Start small: The Canadian Physical activity guidelines for adults aged 18-64 is 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a week (that’s just over 21 minutes a day!). This can be broken up into 10-minute sessions throughout your day. By breaking up your activity you are minimizing the risk of injury due to fatigue and you are making the challenge seem less intimidating
Walking is a great way to get active: walk at a brisk pace, swinging your arms at your shoulders. You shouldn’t be out of breath, but able to speak in 4-5 word sentences. For people who have typically been inactive and are trying to increase their fitness levels we recommend working up to three 10-minute walking sessions a day.
Make it social: exercising (while socially distanced) with a friend is a great way to keep each other accountable.
Do something you love: When focusing on an activity you enjoy (other than watching TV) you are going to add more movement into your lifestyle and not even realize it! Great examples include gardening, fishing, birdwatching, or playing with your children or grandchildren.
Add in some muscle building exercises: At minimum you should be trying for resistance training three days a week. You don’t need to have much equipment on hand to weight train - body weight exercises are an effective way to build muscle mass.
Add NEAT training: Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis is a great way to increase your physical activity outside of going to the gym or running or walking. NEAT training is basically adding movement during your activities of daily living. NEAT can be doing squats while you are cooking dinner, walking to the back of the parking lot, doing lunges before having your cup of coffee, doing arm circles while reading emails at work, hand washing your vehicle, challenging the kids to a push up contest… you get the idea. NEAT training is anything that adds a little bonus activity to your life.
Rest when you need it: Your body will tell you when you over do it, listen to your body. If feeling particularly exhausted on a certain day, then maybe just stick to a nice walk and stretch instead of resistance training.
Rest also includes going to bed at a “decent hour” and waking with the sunrise. Sleeping too much or too little can contribute to poor energy levels. Your goal should be to follow the sun (which is tricky in the summer). Aim for around 8 good hours of sleep and aim to be outside in the early morning sun. Exposure to sunrise is a great way to activate our circadian rhythm, which will impact how we are feeling throughout the rest of the day.