Staying Active While In Isolation

Staying active while in isolation has been very difficult for us all, especially when all of our favorite gyms and activity centres are closed. When we lose our routine, we also lose our tolerance and strength that helped us to perform our jobs in the first place. When this is all over and we return to business as usual, it will be like learning to ride a bike.

Staying active during this confinement period is vital to our health, to prevent disuse atrophy of our muscles, maintaining our cardiovascular system to help prevent obesity, to train our heart and bodies to move all day long, and to maintain our mental well-being.

As a fitness community there is an amazing movement to reach us while we are at home, with apps, fitness programs and yoga sessions being offered online. Here are a few tips from us here at Legacies to help you keep moving.

• Warm-up the body first. 5-10 mins is best
  • March on the spot and do side-to-side lunges
  • Do gentle arm circles or shoulder rolls in both directions
  • Neck rolls, standing twists or touching the opposite toes.
• Keep your heart-beat up
  • Do some laps on the stairs, or run on the spot or around the kitchen table
  • Conduct wall push-pull exercises with short rest breaks in between
  • Do burpees or jumping jacks
• Utilize whole body movement before isolating one muscle group
  • Vary the routine each day. For arm exercises, do push-ups using chairs, diamond push-ups on the floor, and overhead press/ bicep raise with a backpack or suitcase.
  • For leg exercises, change directions to isolate the legs differently. Conduct squats shoulder width apart, sumo squats, and lunges.
  • For back and core strength, bird dogs while on your hands and knees then raising opposite arms and legs upwards, dead-bugs laying on your back with your hands and legs raised at 90 degrees then dropping opposite arms and legs down to the floor
• Listen to your bodies!
  • If the exercise hurts, feel free to modify or change the depth. It’s not fun doing an activity when it hurts, with your rehabilitation exercises in mind
  • Moderate the volume (number of sets/ repetitions) to suit your ability.
  • Decrease the movement to avoid end range (I.e. don’t squat to the floor if your quads, back or knees hurt, and don’t raise the arms straight overhead if you have back or shoulder pain.
• Cool-down and stretch
  • After a work-out, it’s vital to slowly lower your heartrate and stretch the muscle groups you used.  Most cool-downs are 5-10 minutes and use a variety of stretches and yoga positions.

Take care and stay healthy!

By: Michael Calder RMT, BSc Kin, Team Lead, Market Crossing Burnaby