How to build back up to your pre-COVID exercise routine safely in 3 weeks 

Lockdown has forced us all into extraordinary circumstances.  Circumstances that for many of us completely flipped our usual daily routines and health habits on end. 

My 3-4 year intermittent fasting streak came to an abrupt stop because I was suddenly home on Mondays instead of working.  Excuses, excuses I know.  I value my 24 hour once a week fast as one of the most significant changes I have made in my health routine over the last several years.  So I do bear some guilt that I wasn’t able to keep it up.  But I’m back on the band wagon.  And I know I’m not alone.

Fitbit data analyzed from over 30 million users across the globe demonstrated the COVID-19 pandemic has had a major negative impact on physical activity levels (https://blog.fitbit.com/covid-19-global-activity/).  On average in Canada our step count declined 14% for the week ending in March 22, 2020 compared to the same week in 2019.  Users in higher density metropolitan areas tended to have more significant drop off’s in activity levels.    

A recent online survey by Research Co. (https://researchco.ca/category/health-care/) showed that half of Canadians are having a tougher time exercising due to the current pandemic.  And only 2 out of 5 Canadians took action to exercise differently during lockdown.  That is a lot of people who were stripped of their access to gyms, pools, yoga studios, sports teams etc that were unable to find alternatives to stay physically active.

So, as we progress through phases of re-opening health and fitness facilities, many people will feel the urge to make up for lost time.  Please resist that temptation.  A prolonged period of inactivity followed by a sudden surge of motivation and inspiration to “get back at it” is a perfect recipe for injury. 

Back in 2016 Pete wrote one of our all-time most viewed blogs called the Golden Rule to avoid injury (https://www.theproactiveathlete.ca/the-golden-rule-to-avoid-injuries/).  In that blog he highlighted the work of researcher Tim Gabbett who has shown a dose dependent relationship between weekly increases in training load and increases in injury risk.  Basically, rapid increases in volume or intensity week to week put you at significant risk.  

Gabbett, through his almost 20 years of research on professional Rugby players  has also shown that players are most vulnerable to injury in the preseason and by reducing preseason training loads, injuries can be significantly mitigated.  His most recent revelation, termed the training injury paradox, found an increased frequency of training sessions was protective for in-season rugby injuries.  More work on a larger sample to establish this paradox needs to be done, but a higher frequency of lower intensity or load sessions could play a role as well.   

So what’s the key to getting back into shape?  Patience.  Do not microwave your workouts, slow cook them.

Plan to start slow and progress slow.  Do not get caught up in the excitement.  As human beings we have a tendency to default to autopilot when it comes to our exercise routines.  

Flip off autopilot mode and plan for a slow return to exercises that have been on hiatus for a couple months.  I mean actually plan your workouts.  As a general rule, aim to start at 50%.  

Dr. Brad Schoenfeld, associate professor of exercise science at Lehman College in New York recommends planning to start at 50 percent of the volume and intensity of your pre-COVID workouts.  If you are a recreational runner who regularly heads out for 5km, start at a slower pace for 2.5km.  If you love that assault air bike at the gym and generally try to quickly knock off 200 calories, simmer that down to a more relaxed 100 or less to start.  And if you are hitting the weights for the first time, go with half the load and back off a little on your reps a sets.  Your ego will survive, I promise.  

You should also consider bumping up your frequency of sessions in the first couple weeks.  If you normally aim for 3-4 exercise sessions a week try for 5-6 sessions.  If you struggle to regularly get in more than a couple sessions a week, put in the effort early on to get an extra session or two.     

After the first week, Schoenfeld suggests return to about 75% of your former training loads.  By week 3, assuming you are recovering well from each training session and generally feel good, you could be back to 100%.  Some sports, activities and elite performers may certainly take much longer to return to form, but for the majority of us average Joe, keep fit and have fun gym goers, 3 disciplined weeks is a reasonable goal.

Be patient.  Be disciplined.  Don’t be a hero.  Or you might just find yourself limping into our clinic.

Happy training everyone, we look forward to sharing in the collective energy lift of an active, vibrant, healthy community again!