During this very surreal time in history, we have very suddenly found ourselves living a “new normal” with the looming threat of COVID-19. It is more important than ever, to do everything you can to stay healthy, right?
If your immediate thought was “easier said than done”, then you are probably one of the people who, when the words “workout” & “exercise” are mentioned, it causes a knee jerk reaction for you to run and hide or put your fingers in your ears while loudly yelling the handwashing song. Don’t sweat it! You are not alone!
SO, what do people say when asked why they don’t workout?
Well, no pun intended, but the elephant in the room at the moment is that most of us are social distancing and depending on where you live, you are either being highly “encouraged” to STAY at HOME, or it’s become as mandatory as things can get here in the US that you indeed follow the directive or there will be repercussions ranging from fines to imprisonment.
The above is a very real situational reason that you may not be getting enough exercise in. Compound this freaky time with the fact that your gym temporarily closed and you can’t even move about freely outside without taking on some risk, you definitely have some pretty compelling excuses to hang up your sneakers, curl up on the couch and eat!
But, not so fast! The above is not an airtight out on exercising. Even before the pandemic, CDC compiled statistics stated that only one in three children are physically active every day.1 less than 5% of adults participate in 30 minutes of physical activity each day;2 only one in three adults receive the recommended amount of physical activity each week.3 More than 80% of adults do not meet the guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities, and more than 80% of adolescents do not do enough aerobic physical activity to meet the guidelines for youth.5 If these were the numbers pre-pandemic imagine what they will be after! Don’t even get me started on the numbers reflecting the increase in screen time over the last few weeks and the direct effect this will surely have on obesity rates as well as the likely-hood of increased or worsening comorbidities.
Scary stuff! Especially since The CDC warns that certain groups of people are at a higher risk for COVID-19 infections and also to experience a more serious form of the infection which can lead to hospitalizations and the need for ventilation. These include adults over 65 years, individuals with lung disease or asthma, and people with underlying conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and lung disease. 6 Additionally, while The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the COVID-19 outbreak to be an international public health emergency, they also have said that there are more severe complications and symptoms in people with obesity-related conditions.
If all of this doesn’t inspire you to get up and get moving, I don’t know what will!
So, if you are going to say “but, I don’t know what to do”, in regards to workouts and exercise, I get it & that’s legit!
Before all of this craziness started, common excuses about why people didn’t workout went something like this… “I”;
Don’t Enjoy Exercise
Don’t Have the Time
Can’t Stick to it/Can’t Commit
Can’t Afford a Gym
I’m Too Stressed
Don’t Know How
Never See Any Changes
To which I will reply in order; do you enjoy living? Yes? Well then maybe you have to do something you don’t enjoy, in order to continue doing all the other things you do enjoy! Right now, we all have a bunch of time..the question is; what are you going to do with it? Make exercise a ritual and a daily routine and eventually it will become your “new normal”. You don’t need a gym membership…heck, even if you have one, you can’t go anyway! Exercise alleviates stress (also, it improves sleep & mood, builds lean muscle mass, decreases body fat..yada, yada, yada). Don’t know how? Well I do! I’ll show you! I post a bunch of workouts and videos to show you how, you just have to check in and do what I say. And finally, you say “I never see any changes”, to which I say, well of course you didn’t..you just said before this that you didn’t know how! I have worked in fitness for over 30 years! I’ve worked as a civilian trainer and instructor for the US Marines. I worked in dozens of corporate fitness centers, big box gyms and small studios and now I work as an Exercise Specialist for a medical weight loss program at a hospital.
NO MORE EXCUSES! The time has come to commit!
