8 Fitness Benefits of the Coronavirus Lockdowns
A few days ago an article of mine was published on Medium entitled 10 Ways You Can Turn the Coronavirus Pandemic Into a Positive Life Event.
In it, I talked about how this seemingly negative period of self-isolation can actually be a positive thing if you take action and frame it the right way. Those 10 ways were as follows:
But all that was just general advice for the general public.
You come to my site to learn about how to get your best physique through evidence based workout and nutrition advice, so in this article, I’m going to share with you the 8 ways that the COVID-19 lockdowns can benefit your muscle growth and fat loss efforts. Yes, benefit.
- Better warm-ups
- Fresh new workouts
- Better workout focus
- More nutrition control
- More and better sleep
- Focus on pre-hab
- Less temptations and distractions
- More flexible schedule
Let us begin.
1. Better Warm Ups
Let’s face it. No one likes warming up.
It’s boring, tedious, and time consuming.
When you get to the gym, you just want to put on your headphones and get to business. You don’t want to spend time in the corner warming up.
But warm-ups are very beneficial for a variety of reasons:
- They get you physically and mentally primed for the workout ahead
- They allow you to ingrain your technique before loading up the bar
- They allow you to loosen up or address any problem areas that may impede upon your workout now or long term if left unattended
Well you’re at home now with nothing to do and nowhere to go, so now there’s no excuse for skimping on your warm ups.
They don’t have to be extensive by any means, but don’t just brush over them like an afterthought either.
2. Fresh New Workouts
Sorry, buddy. The gyms are all closed. Indefinitely. Does that hurt?
It doesn’t have to. You can get a great workout in at home using your own bodyweight and some minimal equipment (if you’ve got some basic items lying around you can even do it all for FREE). I even wrote an article on that already which you can check out right here.
It goes fully in detail on what you need and how to do it, so make sure to read it if you’re feeling a little lost when it comes to effective home workouts, not the stupid shit everyone and their mom is posting all over social media right now.
Having to do home workouts is a great thing.
- It’s new and mentally stimulating, thus motivating
- You can work on new exercises to plug into your gym workouts
- You now have an option at home if you can’t make it to the gym in the future for whatever reason
- Using the lighter weights, you’ll be stressing your joints less and allowing your body a chance to recover from your typical heavy workouts
It’s a win all around. There’s no reason you have to lose any muscle during this temporary period, and honestly, you should even expect to GAIN some muscle if you’re working hard enough.
For me, it’s been a nostalgic experience. I started working out at home back in the day looking into a narrow, cheap Walmart mirror and blasting music on some computer speakers after school. Returning back to my roots has reminded me of my love for the grind and woken up memories from my childhood of pumping iron before tackling my homework and playing video games with my friends.
3. Better Workout Focus
You know what’s great about home workouts? It’s just you vs. you. All alone in your chamber of solace.
- No annoying guys coming up to you to talk your ear off.
- No one asking 100 questions about your current workout split.
- No haters staring you down in the corner.
- No bimbos curling in the squat rack.
- No waiting for equipment.
- No one asking how many sets you got left.
- No thotianas thirst trapping in their newest designer leggings.
- And for the ladies in the crowd, no creepers asking for your number.
It’s wonderful. Your full focus and attention is exactly where it matters: on your workout.
You can focus more on pumping out quality reps, taking as long as you need, getting in the zone, and really dialing in that mind-muscle connection.
4. More Nutrition Control
The gym is the gym, but you and I both know that diet is the hard part when it comes to getting great results.
During your normal life, you have other stuff going on that makes it hard to really nail your nutrition. You might skip or delay meals, have to settle on eating out somewhere, meal prep, or rely on pre-packaged foods more than you’d like.
Those days are over. At least for a little while.
Now you get to make all of your meals at home from scratch. Using fresh ingredients, taking your time, measuring things out, and sitting down to enjoy each and every meal in peace. Whenever you want.
You’ll not only enjoy your meals more, but you’ll also have more confidence in what’s in them and be more accurate in your tracking.
5. More and Better Sleep
Even if you have great workouts and nail your diet, I can bet that you probably aren’t 100% satisfied with your sleep life.
That’s a shame, because sleep is super important for getting the most out of your physique efforts. And immune system. And mental function. And moods.
But you already work from 9-5, sit in traffic for an hour home, and don’t get out of the gym until 8. If you don’t skimp on sleep a little, then you won’t have time for a life!
Unfortunately, that’s the reality for most of the adult world, but now’s your chance to take advantage of a full night’s sleep and the ability to practice good sleep hygiene.
For how to do that, check out the tips I gave in my last article and be sure to subscribe to my site at the bottom of this page so you can be notified when I drop my full free guide on how to optimize your sleep.
6. Focus on Pre-hab
Pre-hab is exactly what it sounds like: Rehab except before the fact, not after you’ve already sustained an injury.
If you’re pushing your limits in the gym, sooner or later you’re going to accumulate some wear and tear that needs to be managed.
Deloads and programming correctly can sidestep a lot of this, but sometimes a little more focused effort is required to really iron things out.
- Maybe you’re getting tennis elbow.
- Maybe you’re feeling some lower back pain.
- Maybe your shoulder is having some issues.
This is a great time to work on that.
Lighter weights, new exercises that strain your body differently, and even reducing your total workload and focusing more on proper rest can do a lot for these things, but it’s also a good idea to look into:
- Correcting your postures & moving around more
- Refining your movement patterns
- Focusing on your form
- Working on your mobility
- Practicing dedicated pre-hab exercises to strengthen and heal affected areas
Doing so will go a long way towards making sure that when this is all over and the gyms open up again, you’ll be in tip top shape and ready to take advantage of it.
7. Less Temptations and Distractions
I know you’ve been there.
- Your boss wants you to pick up a shift or work overtime.
- Your friends are throwing a party this weekend.
- Your girlfriend asks if you want to go out to eat tonight.
- Your relative asks if you’ll help them with XYZ.
- Your coworker offers you some cake or to hit up happy hour.
And I know what you thought to yourself, too.
How am I going to make this fit with my workout schedule or diet?
I strongly advocate a strong fitness/life balance and not being married to your program, but you and I both know that a lot of times this stuff throws you off and you’d get better results if you didn’t have to deal with any of that.
Enter the coronavirus lockdowns.
Boom, now you’ve just gotten rid of a bunch of the common temptations and distractions in life. You’re now free to enter monk mode and train like a dedicated Olympic athlete for a couple of weeks before the coast is clear again (we hope).
8. More Flexible Schedule
Last but certainly not least, you have a more flexible schedule.
Either you’re working from home or not working at all. If you’re still in school, classes are virtual, you’re following lesson plans on your own time, or school is suspended altogether.
You are free!
That means that you can do what you want, when you want.
- Want to have a workout at 11AM when before you were stuck at work? Go ahead.
- Want to split your workout up into an AM and PM session? Go for it.
- Want to take a fat nap after lunch for a little extra recovery boost? Be my guest.
The sky is the limit. As long as you’re scratching off your objectives at the end of the day, who can argue?
Find the style that suits you best and enjoy it. I’m a big proponent of letting personal preference dictate things where there’s no harm, so use this as an opportunity to do things your way without all the extra constraints imposed upon you by the system.
Conclusion
Got any additional benefits that I didn’t cover here? Let me know in the comments below.
Stay safe out there and keep making those gains.
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