Months into COVID-19 lockdown, many of us have already exhausted our list of usual homebound activities, which means everyone is looking for a new way to use their time in isolation. At PT Academy, we have continued to provide virtual education resources for our PT students, and helped our community of alumni and fitness professionals to transition to online training. Similarly, fitness professionals from around the world have also begun offering their services online, pivoting to accommodate global stay at home orders.
With more fitness content available online than ever before, people everywhere are embarking on fitness journeys, whether they want to shed lbs or the just want to get moving. If you need any additional encouragement to join the online training revolution, you’ve found it. There’s more to exercise than physical health – although that is a major perk. Here, we’re going to share a few amazing reasons you should begin exercising during lockdown.
Mental Health
Beyond the physical benefits of regular exercise, one of the main reasons many people work out is for the sake of their mental health and wellbeing. Exercise can help to calm the mind and relieve stress, both with the output of happiness-inducing endorphins, and by giving both body and mind an outlet in which to expend energy. Many people use exercise to wind down after a long day, to prepare themselves or center themselves for a day, or as a form of relaxation on the weekends.
Now, perhaps more than ever, people everywhere are experiencing unparalleled levels of stress and uncertainty. The outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 has lead to months of confusion and mandated social isolation, which in turn has created significant mental strain for people of all ages everywhere.
If you have not already added some kind of exercise to your daily routine during the lockdown and have begun to feel stressed and weary of the situation, take this as an opportunity to fix both issues. Even just 15 minutes of exercise could help you to feel more energized and at ease, and could make the future weeks or months of lockdown a little easier.
Fitness Transformations
If you have dreamt of having the time and energy to make a fitness transformation, this is the perfect time to do so. You may not have this amount of time to dedicate to new pursuits again until retirement, and who wants to go through a fitness transformation at 65? Take this time to invest in yourself and your health. If you have been wanting to learn how to do a pullup, learn during lockdown and come out the other side feeling stronger than ever.
Habit Forming for the Future
Our lives are busy, which is quite frankly one of the key reasons so many people struggle to form an exercise routine. Work, family, school, friends, traffic, bills, and all the other responsibilities of life sometimes just have to come first, which means we can find ourselves suddenly months away from our last workout. If you want to make exercise a part of your daily routine going forward, try forming that habit now during lockdown while you have the time.
Start getting up a little earlier than you have been, and getting a good 20-minute workout in before you start your day at home. Once the world rebalances and we are able to return to a slightly more normal routine, you’ll already be in the habit of exercising in the mornings, and carrying that over to your non-lockdown life will be much easier.
Self Improvement & Confidence
The uncertainty of life in lockdown can make anyone unsure of their future, and without a proper outlet to foster confidence, that feeling can become overwhelming. If you’ve ever felt that sense of victory after finishing your 100th squat, or have cheered the first time you lifted your goal weight, you know that working out can be an incredible way to raise your own confidence. Through the act of self-improvement and working towards a fitness goal, you can help to fuel your confidence to get through anything life throws your way.
Helping Others
If you have ever dreamt of a career in fitness, lockdown could be a good time to make that dream a reality. Your time in lockdown could be used to do learning for your Certificates III and IV in fitness, or could be applied to perfecting your future programming as a fitness instructor. Now more than ever, there are tons of opportunities for personal trainers and fitness professionals to help others and to make a difference in their lives as we all wait out the lockdown.
Do you have a passion for fitness? Do you want to learn something new during lockdown? Visit PT Academy online to discover our fitness certification and continuing education courses, and be sure to check out our blog for more tips and tricks for success in fitness.
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