Boosting your mental and physical health post-lockdown

Well, lockdown three wasn’t quite lockdown one.

Luckily for me, the first lockdown last March saw an enforced time out from a very busy work life and in came BBQ and beers in the garden with what was a very early but spectacular summer.

Fast forward ten months and the Covid related fatigue had truly set in; COVID seemed to have crept much closer to home, cold dark days, yet another lockdown, financial worries, bad lifestyle habits creeping and children and adults alike desperate to get back to school and work – I never thought I’d see the day.

But in the here and the now, spring has brought a new day and new opportunities with restrictions slowly being lifted, longer days, better weather and a sense of normality resuming – we hope this time for good.

If there are two lessons to take away from a global pandemic it's that life is truly precious and health really is wealth.

If you are someone that feels the last twelve months has had a negative impact on your health, whether that be mental, physical, or both, I want you to do two things for me:

1. Give yourself a break, don’t be too hard on yourself - you just survived a global pandemic where millions weren’t so lucky. This is our generation's world war, the story we will tell the grandkids – even if you don’t realise it yet.

2. Identify what it is about your health that has suffered and why that is.

An example on the second point would be "I have gained a stone in the past year due to the gym's being closed and lack of motivation to exercise at home and I have gone from drinking one bottle of wine per week to three".

You have accepted there is a problem, you have identified exactly what the problem is and the answer is staring you in the face – get back to the gym and reduce that alcohol intake slightly. Weight will slowly return to previous levels and health will have improved as a result.

Improving and optimising your health can be done very simply and by ticking boxes on a daily day to day basis:

HYDRATION – Drink 2-3 litres daily. Every function of the body requires water, you cant perform anywhere near optimal if you're dehydrated.

NUTRITION – Eat a well balanced diet focusing on the nutrient content of your meals over everything else. High protein content through meat, eggs, fish, yoghurt or a veggie/vegan alternative with every meal plus 3-6 servings of fruit and veg per day as a minimum. Food should be tasty and satisfying but also see it as fuel - you wouldn’t put poor fuel in your car if you knew it was going to break it over time.

MOVEMENT – We are designed to move, move regularly and move well, 'Motion is Lotion'. Aim for a minimum of 8000 steps per day, less than this is classed as sedentary, being this inactive over time can lead to lots of illness and ailments down the line related to cardiovascular disease, circulation problems and poor bone health.

EXERCISE – I’m afraid hitting your basic movement goals isn’t exercise. This very much depends on factors including age, current health and ability and is very personal to the individual but as a general rule we want to be aiming for a minimum of twice per week performing 30 minutes of exercise that is more than a walk. I would highly recommend a mixture cardiovascular exercise in the form of cycling or swimming and some form or resistance training using weights or bodyweight to really get the muscles working under load.

By working on the four points above consistently day to day, week after week you will feel and see the benefits of giving your body the treatment and respect it deserves.

If after reading the above you still aren’t confident in making the changes you need then get in touch with us, we are more than happy to give out free advice to anyone that needs or if you need some physical training or classes we can make that happen.

Happy return to normality, wishing you happiness and health for the rest of 2021.

Jamie Ford EASY ST. Personal Training

605 Edenfield Road, Norden, OL11 5XE

Tel: 07948438032

www.easystpt.co.uk