OOPS: Fitness session during lockdown

2020… 

If I were to rate my experience with the current global pandemic, I think I would give it a solid ten (on a scale of 100, that is).

Because of the rapid spread of COVID-19, gyms worldwide have been closed. Outdoor activities have been strongly discouraged and limited, too, in a bid to decrease the rate of infection by the novel coronavirus. Now, you may be asking yourself questions like, “How am I going to maintain my fitness without a good workout?” or “Am I going to be able to keep in good shape?”

Well, for starters, we can forget about trying to get some fresh air outside of our homes. It’s simply out of our reach for now for many people. However, not only are there still things that can be done to keep fit during this lockdown period, but also some that can help increase fitness even after lockdown! Let me introduce you to O.O.P.S.

OOPS?

Since most of us are stuck at home, I devised a plan to help myself keep fit, and I would like to share it. Personally, I have found that OOPS is especially convenient for people like me who lack fitness equipment at home. Let’s get started and learn more!

O — ONE STONE, TWO BIRDS

Rather than staying in bed all day, why not help with housework every 2 to 3 days? Many studies have concluded that roughly 400 to 500 calories are burnt from cleaning, mopping and wiping an average-sized apartment. This number of calories is equal to what is burnt while completing a five kilometer run!

This is really like using one stone to kill two birds: with a bit of physical labour, your home is once again immaculate, and you would also have gotten some great exercise in. On top of that, perhaps it may be mummy or daddy who usually does all the housework, so why not take this chance to help them out and relieve some of their burden?

O — ONE VIDEO A DAY, IT’S ALL IT TAKES

Are you feeling lost as to where to start or what workouts to include in your routine? Well, there are countless videos on YouTube that can help: for me, they have almost become a holy grail of some sort.

These videos are done by fitness professionals who recommend effective and quick workouts that can easily be added to your daily routine. The videos vary in duration, but most of them are no more than fifteen minutes long; rest assured that this addition to your life will not be overly time consuming.

So, if you are struggling to find ways to keep fit because of the lockdown, you could go and hit the play button on a quick home workout video. Come on, what are you waiting for?

P — PUT THAT FRIED CHICKEN DOWN!

An extremely important part of fitness is having a proper diet. On YouTube, there are many before-and-after body transformation videos from ‘workout junkies’, who we often want to emulate because they are seemingly healthy despite their unbalanced diets. Unfortunately, this is not an effective way to maintain health.

No matter what you may be trying to achieve, whether it is reaching a certain level of body fat percentage or just trying to stay fit in general, effective dieting makes up 70% of the process.

Lockdown is a good time for us to stay at home and review our current diets. Is your calorie intake appropriate with regards to your output? Have you been consuming too much junk food? Eating food is the only way your body gets fuel for metabolism every day. Hence, substances you put in your mouth will ultimately have a significant impact on your body.

The first step towards fitness is consuming an appropriate amount of different nutrients and not an excessive quantity of a particular one. Therefore, foods that are greasy, or in general, lack a balance of macronutrients — carbohydrates, proteins and fats — should be avoided at all costs. Another way of saying this is, “Put that fried chicken down!”

S — STAY HOME, STAY SAFE

With the outbreak of the coronavirus, it is vital that we stay at home to reduce the risk of contracting the virus. This should be of utmost importance right now as we face the current pandemic head-on. Remember to follow your local lockdown or quarantine policies: stay home, stay safe.

Moving towards improved fitness and better health is difficult, but taking action step-by-step can make things much easier. It is most important that we stay focused and stick to our exercise routines and diets in order to make progress. Over the past few weeks, I myself have tried out the OOPS technique. Needless to say, it has been quite enjoyable and effective as I tried new ways of getting back into shape.

Anson – 6.1