5 tips on how not to get mad because your gym closed down

The news of the obligation to close all fitness centres for at least 30 days has shocked many of us and we are finding it hard to accept that our hobby has suddenly stopped. But enough of the negativity, let's take a look at how to use this unplanned break to our advantage.

1) When times get tough, remember muscle memory

Let's start with one positive message - if you haven't been exercising and have been doing it for a while, you definitely won't lose everything during your month off, because there is a so-called "muscle memory". Muscle memory is stored in the DNA of muscle cells and thanks to it, muscle cells will only shrink and not die completely when you miss training for a longer period of time. Once you return to strength training again, the muscle cells will regain volume.

If you don't exercise your muscles, they will flatten out due to loss of muscle glycogen and water, it doesn't mean you have lost them for good. You need to keep this in mind when the day comes when you start panicking that your clothes are looser, you're 5 kg less and you look like a prisoner from Dachau in the mirror. Figuratively speaking, to others you'll probably still look the same, but what can we say, pumped up muscles filled with glycogen just look better to the eye.

2) Use your break to train

Now is the perfect time to deepen your knowledge, whether it's healthy eating, weight training, or a completely different industry that you've been interested in but still haven't found enough time to dig deeper into. Libraries may be closed, but you can draw from books that are available online or from quality articles. Enough of you still don't know how to make your own diet or what a proper training plan should look like, what about finally taking the plunge and understanding how everything works? In the end, you'll quite possibly get better quality material than if you send a hefty sum of money to an Instagram "fitness starlet" who will give you the same plan in return that she's sent to plenty of people before us, regardless of goals, health status and other individual needs. Especially if you've been feeling for a while that your progress isn't what you'd like and that you've been doing the same workout over and over again, it's a good time to make a new workout plan and jump on it full of enthusiasm once the viral epidemic has subsided.

3) Take your culinary skills to the next level

If you're reading this article, you're probably a proponent of a healthy lifestyle and you're tailoring your diet accordingly. You're not worried about losing the battle for semi-coarse flour at the store, and most of the ingredients you cook with are readily available. Normally, it might have looked like you arrived home from the gym in the evening, threw in some chicken and rice and that was the end of your cooking. But suddenly you have loads of extra time and energy, so why not try cooking something new? The internet is full of interesting recipes for healthy meals, and you can find many of them here on our website. Healthy eating is definitely not boring, nor does it take too much time. How about learning how to make healthy ice cream or hamburgers?

4) Work out at home and improve endurance and flexibility

When a person has been used to training several times a week at the gym for years, being banned from going there is something of a nightmare. Suddenly, you have to give up your hobby, the place you used to go to unload, get pumped up on endorphins and push yourself beyond your limits. What can you do, you have to accept it and ideally not give up the movement. It takes more effort to catch up with exercise at home, as there are plenty of distractions that will make you put it off, interrupt it or slack off. Let's not kid ourselves, you won't do any extra volume at home with your own weight, but you can improve your fitness, endurance, flexibility and keep fit. Those who own at least some equipment (dumbbells, resistance bands, etc.) have a bit more options, but you can work out without it.

High-intensity interval training, or HIIT, which we wrote about in this article, is very effective ( if you live in a block of flats, it requires tolerant neighbours who can put up with your jumping). In the gym you were all about progression in terms of lifted weights and stretching or self weight exercises went by the wayside, now you have the opportunity to focus on just that. Suddenly you might find out what a problem we have with simple push-ups or squats on one leg for example , take time off from the gym as a challenge to get better at these exercises. Better flexibility will also come in handy, incorporate regular stretching exercises or yoga. In the near future and in our magazine, we will bring inspiration for home workouts that don't require any equipment.

5) Relax and finish the resty

Give your body a good dose of relaxation, it definitely deserves it. Unwind with a movie or TV show, read a new book, take a hot bath or get a massage from your partner. It will help you not only physically but also mentally. Your muscles will finally get a good dose of regeneration that they didn't get when you were mainly chasing performance.

Probably all of us have a bunch of restos at home to do and keep putting them off. Finally get your papers in order, sort out old clothes, redecorate or in short do whatever needs to be done.

A few words in conclusion

Although all of us in the fitness community have accepted the government's edict to close gyms with great reluctance, health should come first for us and we need to respect that fact. The problem remains that we are not used to any kind of bans in our area and the first thing that comes to many people's minds is how to "piss off" this regulation, which is wrong. Not respecting the mandatory quarantine and allowing the secretly chosen ones to enter the gym. If we want to put these dark times behind us as quickly as possible, we need to comply with what has been ordered, it is the only way to prevent the spread of a dangerous virus. Good health to all, hopefully we'll be back in the gym again soon full of strength.

Image sources: shutterstock.com, womenworking.com, themusclephd.com