The COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact on the world in 2020 and taught us many things. While there were many lessons to be learned, it became clear that staying fit during times of uncertainty can be challenging for all, even those who would did it regularly before life changed to what it is now.
With the on and off lockdown and restrictions in place in the country for almost a year now, this meant that limited fitness facilities were available and many sports such as football, golf and GAA were unable to take place for long periods. While this has been a troublesome time for all, research suggests a range of health problems during this time, such as heart disease, weight gain and many more. With people having more spare time now, a lot of that is being spent in front of a screen, whether that be working, on Netflix, Disney+ or even playing video games it is easy for them to be more appealing than a walk outside in the cold, wet or windy weather.
Many facilities such as gyms have been working tirelessly to come to terms with this. They have offered things such as online live classes, online programs and even in some cases they have rented their equipment out. However, alternative ways of staying fit are required as this option is not available to everyone.
Our top tips for staying fit during the COVID-19 Restrictions:
1. Do a home workout via a streamed/recorded class. While it may not be as good as going to the gym, or even more challenging to do as you lack motivation, home workouts can be very beneficial. Many free workout classes can be found on sites like Instagram and YouTube. These sites provide classes such as HIIT classes, yoga, area focused strength and many more. The great thing about these recorded classes is you can do that at a time that suits you, morning, noon or night.
2. Daily movement goals. You should set yourself daily movement goals, for example 10,000 step challenge. Getting you daily steps in is important and it also allows you go out and get some fresh air which is extra beneficial. This can also be turned into a competition with friends and family to get more people involved, by seeing who can do the most amount of steps each week and possibly even setting small rewards to motivate everyone. Another great aspect of walking is you can do it with friends/family and even with the dog. There are so many beautiful places around Ireland that can be walking routes.
3. Build your own home gym. Building your own home gym can be expensive and troublesome. It takes up a lot of space and costs a lot of money. If you are able to afford it and have the space I would recommend going for it, as you will have a lot of the equipment for life and it may reduce your future gym membership costs. If you are not in that position of luxury fear not, as there are alternatives. Resistance bands have become increasingly popular in recent years and are very affordable, along with yoga mats, a step bench and a skipping rope. With all these items combined you will have more than enough equipment to get a good workout in, which also doesn’t take up too much room and can be cleaned up easily. Water dumbbells can be a cheaper substitute for original dumbbells, but are still expensive. For people looking to add weight to their workouts they could use appliances around the house that they might have, such as large bottles of water, bag of pet food/potatoes, a paint can and anything else you can think of.
4. Running challenge. Many people have taken up running during the last year and have even started doing challenges with friends as a result. Challenges such as run a certain distance each week/month have been very popular. This was widely evident during Movember, where men around the world elected to run a certain distance that month to raise awareness for men’s mental health issues. We have also seen the run 5, donate 5 and choose 5 challenge which not only benefited people individually but also charities.
While the world may be unclear and not how it should be at the moment, health and wellbeing should always be a priority in everyone’s life. Now is the time to incorporate creativity into your fitness regime and who knows maybe you could be the person to come up with the next TikTok trend.
