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Why do we need all this physical activity at all? Let’s start with the fact that we all like to feel good, without exception. It consists of factors such as, among others, a good mood, feeling comfortable in our own skin, surrounding ourselves with positive people, tasty food and other small everyday life that make us smile more often. Our body then produces the happiness hormones – endorphins, which are largely responsible for well-being. But you can become your own happiness provider at any time! How?
This is how even a small amount of physical effort works for us! By exercising for a few minutes a day, we stretch our muscles, get rid of persistent contractions and stimulate the production of endorphins. In today’s troubled times, every dose of good humor is worth its weight in gold. In the context of the pandemic and the return to normalcy as such, it is definitely worth mentioning the beneficial effect of physical activity on our health. Properly selected activity brings health benefits such as:
- support of immunity,
- supporting digestive processes,
- improving the functioning of the respiratory and circulatory systems,
- reducing the risk of heart disease,
- dream figure and physical fitness.
These benefits could go on for a long time, but the conclusion is simple: physical activity is good for maintaining both physical and mental health. Reconstruction of the latter, especially in the context of several months of isolation and few contacts with loved ones or even with the world, should definitely become a priority for us!
So how do we get back in shape after a pandemic?
Where to start is extremely important. Many of us have experienced episodes of enormous motivation in our lives when we decided to “go for ourselves”, embrace. We signed up for fitness classes, training with friends, we bought new running shoes. This enormous enthusiasm lasted for several weeks, after which, unfortunately, most often it turned out to be straw.
So how do you get started and not get discouraged? How to motivate yourself enough not to give up physical activity after just a few days? Well, to get started… we have to get started! 😉 Not tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, from Monday and so on. Let’s get up from the couch and do some spontaneous squats, jumpers. Let’s stretch and see how our body reacts to such a small dose of activity. Let’s start with small, non-committal and unconventional steps.
If we put too much pressure on ourselves at the very beginning, we can overload our sleeping body quickly and effectively, and the motivation will be forgotten. Therefore, let’s start with moderate activity, even a few minutes a day – but every day. Often our too high, professional, even Olympic sports plans fail, because we do not withstand too much rigor that we have imposed on ourselves.
Therefore, at the beginning, we need to think about the real amount of additional activities. Let’s not assume that by working full-time, we will be able to just introduce 2-hour, intense workouts every morning.
Home exercises
With the next restrictions, it is slowly difficult to keep up with what is still or is already open (yes, we were caught in a squash recently, we would like to thank the Vitalijk for being vigilant). For many of us, a swimming pool or a gym are a favorite place to practice sports. But we can be active anywhere, especially at home. What’s more, for many of the exercises we do not need any equipment (e.g. exercises with the use of our own body weight) or a large area, so we can easily do them in our living room, garage or garden.
It is worth noting that in recent months, during the pandemic, many sports facilities met their clients and launched online classes. What exercises can we do at home without any problems?
1. Yoga and stretching
For this we need a minimum of space, more or less enough to be able to calmly stretch out on the floor. In fact, we do not need any equipment – although the mat is a useful accessory, we can easily start with exercises on a carpet or a towel. A few minutes of yoga in the morning will put us in a good mood, help to stimulate the muscles stagnant during sleep, prolong our breathing and clear our thoughts, so that we can start a new day with a solid dose of positive energy. Just stretching, on the other hand, will improve our posture and reduce the risk of injury.
2. Zumba
Yes, you can do it at home! Contrary to appearances, we do not need the entire gym here, but only a space where we can freely take a few steps forward and to the side. On the Internet you will find a whole lot of videos of various lengths, from just a few minutes long to full-time one-hour workouts. Zumba is a great way to burn calories while listening to music, it helps you get in good shape, lose unnecessary kilograms, and have a great time at the same time!
3. fitness
This includes general exercise that includes both stretching and exercise. Fitness training usually lasts from 20 minutes to an hour, does not require a lot of space or equipment (unless two bottles of water instead of dumbbells 😊). The instructional videos are most often found under the slogans “fitness” or “whole body training”, known as full body workout. But we don’t have to look far!
Well, as part of the subscription to you get access to the Fitness Online Club (https://.pl/klub-fitness-online-w-domu), including 30 trainings especially for women and 16 especially for men – and nothing prevents you from doing them regardless of the categories assigned in our database 😉
Our instructors will be experienced trainers (Kasia Strzelczyk, Asia Majewska, Seweryn Czarnowski and Sebastian Parat), with whom we can perform interval exercises, modeling, pilates, stretching, calisthenics, fat burning or cardio. Most importantly, all trainings will be performed wherever we like, they do not require additional equipment!
Outdoor activity
What if we are not sports fans? No problem. A great physical activity, especially for a start, is … walking! Let us spend half an hour or an hour on a walk each day, our body will thank us for sure. Being outdoors and being exposed to sunlight supports the production of vitamin D3, and a walk is the simplest and for many people the most enjoyable form of physical activity that can be easily combined with other pleasures.
If we want to break the monotony of an ordinary walk, we can discover a new hobby or pursue current ones, such as photography, ornithology or ordinary, but often inspiring contemplation of the fauna and flora that surround us. For greater dynamics, we can also stock up on Nordic walking sticks (very popular in some groups on) and also perform upper body training 😉
What other activities can we do outdoors? Here we are limited only by our imagination. For example, running – it helps you relax and clear your thoughts, and at the same time is great for maintaining good shape and a slim figure. Cycling – another activity that is often associated more with relaxation than sport, and it’s good at the beginning. Such bicycle trips are a great idea for an active and pleasant weekend with the family, especially since city bikes are used by the public in an increasing number of Polish cities, so this activity does not have to mean huge expenses.
We can still take a look at some interesting outdoor activities agility. It is an agile sport for our pets (rather dogs, but it does not hurt to try with cats – the world belongs to the brave), but the owners’ help is necessary, and this help will undoubtedly allow you to burn several hundred calories. From the more calm solutions, we can choose a game of boules or the so-called Viking chess. Do you know these activities? If so, be sure to let me know in the comments!
Balance is important in activity!
Let’s remember! Moderate physical activity is necessary for the proper functioning of our body – it affects our condition both physically and mentally. Just a few minutes of exercise a day improves the mood, helps to relax muscles, affects our posture, and allows you to get rid of this persistent back and neck pain, which is the bane of all people working at a desk or leading a sedentary lifestyle.
The activity itself is a great start, and over time you can also include an appropriate, balanced diet. We do not have to change our life by 180 degrees overnight, in the case of introducing a few healthy, new habits, it is worth taking a moment to change again. On the other hand, with a proper diet, there is no special philosophy either – just make a few healthier choices a day, for example, change sweets for fruit, and instead of deep-fried red meat, choose a baked turkey and add a salad – no mayonnaise, but with yogurt.
It is definitely worth doing everything at your own pace and to the best of your ability. Let us not go deep into the water, neither with too much physical activity, nor with too radical a diet, because it most often ends up with burnout and discouragement. Ultimately, we are to feel better, healthier, with ourselves.