This year, many daily routines were thrown out the window thanks in part to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the end to the pandemic still likely not coming until far in the future, areas are starting to open back up, signally a somewhat return to normalcy. What better time is there to get back into your exercise routine? At Advance Physical Therapy, we’d like to help you ease back into exercising without suffering from pain or injury.
Remember To Pace Yourself
Whether you have taken weeks or months off from exercising, it’s important to remember that your body will not be at the level it was at the initial time of your break from routine. While you may want to jump back into performing exercises at your previous levels of ability and intensity, doing so will cause more harm than good. Pushing yourself too hard too fast can help lead to injury, putting your fitness journey further back and setting you off schedule.
Stay Motivated
You may not have any issues staying motivated to work out once you decide to start getting back into your routine. However, it’s not uncommon for this motivation to wean, leaving you in a sedentary rut. To help avoid this, we recommend using the below motivational tips:
- Avoid making comparisons on social media to other people’s routines, everyone is different!
- Set realistically achievable goals for every week, month.
- Plan rewards for working out a certain amount of days each week.
- Switch up your routines often.
- Don’t base all your workout victories on a number on your scale.
Don’t Forget To Hydrate!
If you stopped your exercise routine completely once stay at home orders began, one thing you’ll notice is that it’s a lot warmer out now than it was back then. This fact means that you’ll need to put an extra emphasis on staying hydrated while you start your new routine. Increasing your water intake during the summer months will help keep your joints lubricated and pain-free. This will go a long way in allowing you to return to normal workout levels.
Contact Us
Staying active this summer will play an important role in maintaining your physical and mental health. However, even after gradually returning to your exercise routine, an injury may still take place. Fortunately, our team at Advance Physical Therapy will be able to help if this happens. For more information regarding our services, make sure you contact our team today.