Managing Fitness During Covid-19

By now, the novelty of quarantine has worn off and the notion that this is our new norm for the foreseeable future has settled in. Most of our worlds have been completely turned upside down, some more than others.

To some extent, we are all dealing with added stress and anxiety about quality of life after Covid, finances, feeling isolated, loss, and so many more things. 

For these reasons, I want to remind you that it is okay to not be okay. It is okay to have days where you feel too overwhelmed to exercise or you have far larger things happening in your life at the moment. It is okay to stop tracking your macros if it is inducing added anxiety and stress to your life. It is okay to have some extra treats or a few extra glasses of wine over virtual happy hours. 

Absolutely nobody is perfect; before Covid or during Covid. Our motivation waivers and we overindulge. This is normal. The notion of prioritizing ourselves and our health (physical and mental) hasn’t changed. 

What we need to focus on during this time is this: 

You have an obligation to yourself to do your best.

Your best doesn’t mean perfection. Your best doesn’t look like somebody else’s best. Your best may not look like your best a few weeks ago. 

Your best means do what you can throughout everyday to take care of yourself. This looks different for everyone and will probably look different each day. 

Do your best to get some movement in. For some, this might mean a 5 minute walk, or maybe just 15 minutes of a bodyweight workout. For others, maybe they feel their best while moving so their time spent dedicated to training (even though it probably looks different now) hasn’t changed much. All of these are okay if it is the best you can give yourself on that particular day.

Progressive overload in training is what allows you to get stronger and see results; it is doing more overtime. Similarly, we should focus on doing a little bit more everyday or maybe every week. Small changes add up to make a massive difference in our life. Maybe you add on a couple more reps to an exercise, or maybe instead of just stepping onto your porch you decide to go around the block 2 times. Maybe you tell yourself you can dedicate 10 minutes a day to movement, and the next week you bump it up to 15. 

Do your best to prioritize your nutrition. This doesn’t mean absolutely no chips or treats. Restricting food, particularly during a stressful time can end with overindulging and binging. Sitting on the couch everyday surrounded by chips, donuts and ice cream probably isn’t doing your best. What we can do is shoot for somewhere in between. 

Now is not the time to worry about a little bit of fat gain; for most of us this will be inevitable (we are moving less and probably eating more). Continue to stick to nutrient dense food most of the time and give yourself grace if you indulge a little bit more than usual on some days. 

We are in a time where our health should be all of our main priorities. There is no right or wrong way to navigate through Covid. But the optimal choice will be to do the best you can.

Thank you for reading! Blogs are updated weekly, so be sure to check back to learn more on fitness, nutrition, and healthy living! To read more like this, check out insideoutfitnesspdx.com/blog