Top tips to ease your way back into the gym post-lockdown

Across the country, we’re beginning to see many gyms beginning to re-open after the easing of lockdown measures. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, to help reduce the spread of the virus gyms were seen as one of the core businesses where it could easily spread.

Whilst we’ve been restricted to home body workouts, you might feel more comfortable to return back to the gym and lose that lockdown weight that’s been piling up in recent months. But, before you pick up where you left off, it’s more than likely that your strength levels aren’t what they once used to be.

Diving in head first could easily lead you to risking injury and hinder your long term success in the gym. To ensure you can make the transition as smooth as possible, here are some tips to consider to ease your way back into lockdown.

1. Start your workouts off light

It can be a bit of a blow to your ego to discover that you were able to lift large weights before the lockdown hit, but unfortunately, this is simply reality of how the human body works. If you haven’t been back for a while then you’re better off starting light.

This can avoid injury but also help you return back to your normal form. By starting off slowly, gradually you’ll feel your strength improve as the cognitive signals in our body become used to us routinely going through our gym routine. Focusing on your technique will help your strength to return sooner rather than later.

2. Utilise shorter workouts

One way for gyms to reduce the risk of the virus spreading is reducing the number of people that can enter the gym. This enables them to clean thoroughly and reinforce their safety protocols. With this being the case, it might be important to consider shorter workouts when you return to the gym.

Rest periods are important and steady workouts improve your cardiovascular system, but with careful planning you’ll be able to get your results in less time. Here’s how:

• Use compound exercise that work several muscles at the same time as your train
• Superset your workouts to work opposing muscle groups
• Track your rest periods through a stopwatch or timers

3. Get back on your healthy eating

During lockdown you may have fallen into the bad habit of eating unhealthy foods and snacks. It’s easy when the snack drawer is simply at arms length. If you’re looking to return to the gym, however, what you eat will heavily impact your recovery and how easily you can get back fit again. By getting back into the routine of a balanced healthy diet, you’ll instantly feel the improvements to your health and gym workout routines, similar to the feeling you had pre-lockdown. Even if you’re finding it hard to get it back through your natural diet, you can give yourself a little boost with EPA fish oil or magnesium tablets that you can have as part of your diet.