Dr. Riley breaks down the Do’s and Dont’s of people wanting to get back into the gym.
Transcript:
Dr. Riley:
These have been very unusual circumstances. Many of us have been able to go into our gyms related to the recent virus outbreak and so forth. We’ve been sedentary, we’ve been working from home, we’ve been inactive. I’ve been guilty of this, and we’ve kind of gotten out of our routines, if you will. But as things have started to open up, gyms are opening back up, we’re able to kind of resume some bit of normalcy. A lot of us are excited to get back into the gym, and that’s fantastic that the gyms are opening and that we’re enthusiastic to get back into the gym to start working out. But I think that we need to be aware of a few things, okay? Many of us have been doing things that we aren’t used to. We’ve been sitting more at home, we’ve been sedentary. We’ve not been working on our flexibility. Yoga, stretching, whatever the case may be.
So many of us have gotten a little tight, gotten a little weak, gotten a little lazy. And so I think that we need to be aware of these things as we get back into the gym. We need to have a plan, okay? And what I mean by that is if you have the opportunity to work with someone, to consult a professional, I think that’s a good idea. Whether it’s a trainer or someone that you’ve worked with in the past, even a yoga exercise routine online, whatever you have, I think it’s important to have a set plan as opposed to walking into the gym, heading over to the dumbbells and start doing a bunch of curls or sit-ups, whatever the case may be. So with that plan, that’s going to give us a bit of roadmap on how to slowly introduce us safely back into the gym.
Next, take your time. Obviously, we’re very excited, we’re enthusiastic, we want to get back in there. Just like with anything, many of us aren’t going to go out and run a marathon. There’s going to be training before we’re able to run 26 miles. So we want to slowly take our time. I would recommend two to three days a week to start. Very short kind of segments, 30 minute sessions should be adequate. But we just want to slowly take our time.
If you’re big on cardio, make sure that we’re warming up properly. If you enjoy weightlifting, make sure that you’re using a lower load, using lesser weight so you don’t hurt yourself. Focusing on lesser repetitions and those types of things. So we want to start slow.
And then lastly, have fun and enjoy it. I mean, so many of us have been unable to leave our homes and unable to get out to experience exercise and sunshine and those types of things. I think it’s so very important that we kind of reflect on what we’ve been dealing with and get back to getting healthy, exercising and moving. We always talk about movement here at Tulsa Spine and Rehab. It is so important to keep moving, whether you’re moving at the gym, moving outside, moving on a treadmill at your office. It’s so very important. So as things continue to open up, I encourage you all to get back in the gym, take your time, do it safely, and enjoy yourself.
