A sports trainer advises on how to safely return to physical activity after a break
Sports facilities have been reopened and Poles can enjoy their favourite workouts again. However, it is worth preparing for physical activity after a break, as the experts who conduct sports and personal training remind us. How to get the body moving and get back in shape reasonably? Here are some tips and exercises to start with.
Before the pandemic, 64% of Polish residents over the age of 15 undertook physical activity at least once a month. As many as 40% of adult Poles used various types of sports and recreational facilities and 79% of them exercised there at least once a week. It is the closure of fitness clubs, gyms and swimming pools that was the most frequently mentioned reason for limiting physical activity during the lockdown (MultiSport Index Pandemic). As a result, as many as 43% of Poles exercised less, experiencing the negative impact of changing sports habits on their wellbeing (74%), health (65%) and body shape (61%). Today, we can once again enjoy our favourite training in the gym but it is worth coming back to exercise safely so that we do not get injured after a break.
– Returning to workouts means an exercise in patience and the ability to set realistic goals in line with our abilities and condition. Let’s not try to break pre-pandemic records right away nor make up for lost training in a short time. Putting too much pressure on our joints, muscles and nervous system without getting our body used to being active again is a simple recipe for injury. Let’s listen to our body. Let’s take care of a thorough warm-up which will raise the temperature of our body and heat up the joints. Let’s try to spend 10 minutes at the start on a cross-trainer or a treadmill. Let’s do some yoga poses such as the “Downward Dog” and exercises based on body rotation, e.g. torso twists. A very important element of each workout is the so-called activation, i.e. exercises that stimulate lazy muscles to work. They include push-ups, hip lifts or laps to stand on one leg. The first few workouts should be devoted to multi-joint exercises that will engage all parts of the muscles – says Piotr Czyżewski, MultiSport trainer and Zdrowie na Etacie programme expert.
Here are four exercises that are worth doing as part of your initial training:
– When arranging a training plan after a break, it is worth opting for two or three shorter workouts a week, starting with really low loads. Gradually, we can increase both the number of training sessions as well as their length and intensity. Each workout should end with a series of stretching exercises, i.e. several yoga poses that will help us calm the nervous system stimulated by the training, reduce muscle tension and accelerate the regeneration process. The last one is very important so in the training plan we should mark the days without exercise during which our body will simply rest – explains Piotr Czyżewski.
Here is an example of basic yoga poses that will work as stretching exercises:
The full training plan for the start designed by Piotr Czyżewski is available free of charge at https://www.kartamultisport.pl/blog/artykul/pobierz-plan-treningowy
Exercise safely in fitness clubs
Currently, additional safety rules apply in sports facilities. They include the need to disinfect sports equipment by customers before and after use with liquids and disposable towels placed in fitness clubs. While using these facilities, you should also remember to disinfect your hands, keep social distance and cover your mouth and nose with a mask when you are not physically active. In addition, there is a space limit per person in fitness clubs and gyms. Currently it is 15 m² per person. As of 26 June 2021 it will be reduced to 10 m².
