You have resumed exercise after a long time… What to pay attention to?

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, gyms and fitness centers are being forced to close. What should I do to avoid getting injured while trying to train my muscles after a long time when the gym reopens? Professor Christopher Williams, a kinesiology researcher at Newcastle University, explains this and draws attention.

The human body can become healthy or even harmful depending on the amount of exercise. According to him, as soon as you reduce the amount of exercise, your body changes immediately. A 2008 study found that muscle mass, muscle strength, physical function, and metabolic function significantly decreased even if you did not exercise for just 10 days. On the other hand, a 2018 study found that the body did not immediately change even if the amount of exercise was increased.

It takes several or weeks of training to get back in shape, but Professor Williams said that when you get back to the gym, your muscles and joints are likely to stiffen and you’ll feel like your breathing is heavy, and if you’re doing high-intensity training or during training, you’re going to have to sharpen the load. If you increase it too much, you may be injured. If you train for a long time, you need to be careful. To avoid such injuries, you should start by having an exercise routine in place.

According to this, if you exercise for a long time, start at 70-80% of your previous load. For example, if you did a 50kg bench press while training, start benching around 35kg after restarting and consider gradually increasing the load from here. After resumption, it is essential to warm up before training.

In addition, the body’s response to exercise is largely related to the amount of sleep, stress, lack of nutrition, and alcohol during the period of interruption. For example, if sleep deprivation continues, the intensity of training should be lowered. You should check your condition before and during training to decide whether to increase or decrease the load.

It is often said that back pain or knee pain occurs after exercising for a long time, but the cause of such pain is not an injury and most of them will get better soon. Explain that it is more beneficial to continue exercising as far as you can than to stop exercising completely. However, if the pain gets stronger and persists for more than a few days, you should see a doctor. Related information can be found here.