Turn Your Post-Quarantine Caterpillar into a Butterfly (Restart Exercise Without Injury!)

"One day the caterpillar stops eating, hangs upside down from a twig or leaf and spins itself a silky cocoon...Within its protective casing, the caterpillar radically transforms its body, eventually emerging as a butterfly."

If you’re wondering how to restart your exercise program without injury, we can walk you through it.  In fact, if you were an avid runner before the Pandemic who took some time off, walking is a good place to start.  Slow and steady wins the race.  It’s also a good idea to consult with your doctor first, particularly if you are older or have a medical condition.  Here are lots of other recommendations for a post-quarantine revival.

WebMD suggests hiring a Personal Trainer.  “The trainer will help you create a safe and realistic exercise program.”  If you want to get stronger, faster, thinner, more toned or all of the above, reach out to Golden Home Fitness.  Our Personal Trainers can get you the results you want fast and injury-free.  Claim your free workout today.

Whether you are working with a Personal Trainer or not, you will want to start with a small goal and work up from there if you want to restart exercise without injury.  Nobody likes when an exercise that used to feel easy, now feels out of reach. But trying to do too much too soon can be overwhelming, and can make you feel defeated.  Your best bet is to ease into a new routine by doing a little less than you know you can.  Later you can gradually increase the intensity, frequency and duration of your workouts.  

Restarting exercise without injury takes a good strategy. Start with low-intensity workouts for the first week or two, and then work up from there.  If you were running, start with a walk.  If you were doing strength training, start with lighter weights or no weights at all.  Another option is to lower your reps or do fewer sets.  Planks, lunges, pushups, bridges and squats are a solid foundation to build upon.  They will improve your strength and fitness, while making it less likely that you get hurt.  

Heavy lifting, jump squats, burpees and box jumps are best saved for later in your fitness journey.  The first step is to be patient and just start moving more!  If you pace yourself, you are much more likely to succeed.  Your body responds to consistent exercise which will not be possible if you end up getting hurt.

If you want to work out again without getting hurt, start your workouts with dynamic stretches to warm up your body.  End them with static stretches and a cool down.  Tight backs and hamstrings are common.  Even more so if you’ve been doing more channel surfing then surfing lately. The warm up will loosen up your muscles and joints, and get your heart rate up. 

A good cool down will get your heart rate back down slowly.  It will also improve your flexibility, and leave you less tight and sore.  You are much less likely to get injured if you include a warmup and a cool down in your workouts.  Your exercises will also seem more do-able and enjoyable.

To start working out again without getting hurt, focus on your form.  Sacrificing your form for heavier weight, more reps or faster sets will only lead to injury. It is often the reason people get hurt when they are starting or restarting an exercise regimen.  A good personal trainer can ensure your form is spot-on from the get-go.  Quality over quantity will get you to your end game.  

Focus on doing the exercises right, breathing and controlling each movement.  Know the difference between muscle discomfort and pain.  Stop immediately if something doesn’t feel right.  Listening to your body could be the difference between getting fit and getting injured.

The months we have spent in forced confinement due to the Pandemic have been hard on most of us.  If you have been unable to maintain a proper workout routine, you’re not alone.  Now that we are approaching a new normal, we can resume a healthy lifestyle with a few easy steps.

Enlisting the help of a Personal Trainer is the surest way to succeed.  Pacing yourself, warming up, cooling down and focusing on proper form will get you to where you want to go.  You can start your exercise program without injury. We are here for you with excellent instruction, motivation and accountability.  We hope to see you soon and wish you the best of luck!

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Endnotes: scientificamerican.com; health.harvard.edu;  webmd.com;  self.com;  getthegloss.com;  stylecaster.com;  flippingfifty.com