RETURNING TO FITNESS IS ABOUT ENJOYING THE RIDE

By Kate Bevilaqua, MetaSport Training Head Coach

Do not worry, your fitness will come back! Lockdown was a tough time for everyone. Not only the physical effects on the body for individuals who are used to being so active, but the mental and emotional strain can add additional stress that we might choose to ignore. If you managed to keep your body moving – congratulations!  However you struggled or didn’t do much, then your fitness may have taken a bit of a knock, and that is OK. If you were consistent with your training in the past year or two then you’ve deposited a lot of pennies into the fitness bank, and your body will remember that.

So how to address your current fitness, especially if you are feeling unfit? Well number one: don’t stress about it. Give yourself at least the next 3-4 weeks to settle into a new routine again. Try to get back in the pool, try some shorter faster runs and when you can, add longer run at a slower (tempo) speed.  At this stage there should be no added pressure or expectations on what you should be achieving. It should be all about effort and enjoying yourself. Do that, and it won’t take long to see those improvements in your performance again.

At MetaSport Training we typically say that it takes about six sessions to start feeling good again, in particular when referencing swimming.  I know many may struggle getting back into the pool after a long break. But I can tell you that after your sixth swim things will start to come round and you’ll feel much better in the water. Just try to be as consistent as possible. Enjoy the build back to fitness, it’s not a bad thing to have a break, and you may very well find that you can reach new fitness levels after a rest period. The process should be enjoyed, don’t get wrapped up in the times you were doing prior to lockdown.

Please especially look after your bodies if you’ve been doing minimal running. Some self-massage and foam rolling will go a long way towards staying uninjured and healthy. Remember, training is meant to be fun, so go and have some!