To exercise or not

I was recently talking to someone (via social media) and we got chatting about how since lockdown in March this year, many of us have found that we’ve put on weight. Not because we’ve necessarily been eating more, but simply because of the change in our daily lives, meaning the routines we had when included exercising, had to be stopped.

Just because we had to stop the exercise routines we had previously been following, did not mean we couldn’t exercise, it just meant we had to find alternatives, and for some there probably wasn’t the incentive to do so because so many other things in their lives had changed. Here’s a few things that maybe took up their time, or caused them not to feel able to exercise – Maybe they found they

• had to home school because all schools were closed;
• had to work from home full-time;
• were furloughed from their job;
• had no job;
• would have to wait for surgery or treatment, as all non-essential hospital clinics and admissions were stopped;
• had to care for family members as social care services were suspended;
• couldn’t visit their family members in care homes;
• had no incentive or motivation to exercise.

For me, my exercise regime was completely turned upside down. Normally when at work I went for a walk every lunch time (unless it was very wet), and I also went to a weekly cardiac rehab class in the evening, run by some of the Glasgow cardiac physios. But I found myself working from home full-time and the incentive to go for a walk at lunch-time just wasn’t there – And once we were shielding we took no risks by going out the house except to attend health appointments – My weekly cardiac rehab class was also cancelled.

A few weeks ago my cardiac rehab class restarted via Zoom, which has been great as not only do I get to see and chat with some of my friends at the class again, but it also gives me no excuse not to get some exercise. Not only that, but the class in now run twice a week (both via Zoom), so I get to do my class twice each week. I’ve also been walking to/from appointments at my health centre as well, so I’m definitely getting much more exercise than I was a few months ago, although I’ve still a long way to go to lose that extra weight I’ve gained during lockdown, and get back to getting as much exercise as I was pre-lockdown.

How about you, what has your exercise regime been like over these last few months? Have you had the same issues with motivating yourself to keep fit, or at least get some exercise over the last few months?

Whatever you have or haven’t done in the way of exercise in the last few months, I hope you are able to find an exercise regime that works for you. Good luck exercising!