Exercising and staying fit in the midst of this new pandemic has been a struggle for many. After the closure of countless businesses starting in the month of March in Canada, we entered a new era of COVID-19 in which news headlines, social gatherings and even family plans have all revolved around the impact of COVID-19. Many of us have shifted from a traditional office type of employment to a more remote approach. The posts that were previously occupied by workers sitting in their office cubicles after driving to work 1 hour through traffic in the morning while spending another hour driving back in the evenings have now been replaced by people waking up to go over to their desk at home to do the same work.
Our modern lives have transitioned from a more active lifestyle in the past of physical labour to a more sedentary one which involves more mental work yet also more sitting down. While this has made our lives easier in some ways, it has also led to other problems such as our ever-declining physical fitness as a society. People spending hours working in the field or in the factory has now been replaced by a lifestyle in which you’re lucky to find the time in the day to go out for a walk. Our obesity rates have spiked with rates being stated at 14% in 1978 and doubling to 28% in 2014 with a mindboggling 64% of Canadians being classified as overweight or obese as of 2017. Overweight or obese is classified as anyone with a BMI greater than 25.
Gym Closures Imminent - What’s Left to Do?
As of midnight of Monday October 19th, York Region will join Toronto, Peel and Ottawa regions in reverting back to a modified Stage 2 in lieu of the ever mounting coronavirus case numbers across the province in major urban centres. The elusive second wave that had been referred to since spring of this year has finally become a reality and has prompted tougher action by the government. This unfortunately means the closure of many facilities including all indoor gyms, fitness centres and dance studios.
Many people are forced to make a conscious decision as to how to allocate a specific time of the day for exercise. A large portion of these people prefer to go to a specific facility for their physical fitness, after all, we all know what it’s like when working out and you feel demotivated by your lack of progress. Just when it seems that you want to give up, you’re somehow able to regain that motivation when looking around to see everyone else working out around you.
The Health Benefits
For instance, a 2016 study published in the journal Obesity discovered that overweight people tend to lose more weight if they spend more time with their fit friends. In our schools, we discourage peer pressure by telling people that it stops people from being independent. In this context, however, peer pressure is good because it allows us to push ourselves to our full potential. Exercise in general also comes with a host of other health benefits such as increased productivity, decreased stress, better sleep, and overall increased reported level of happiness by participants that engaged in an exercise regime over the course of several weeks. Exercise is the new as well as oldest medicine available.
Making the Gym Fit You
So let’s get down to business. If exercise is so helpful and necessary, yet all fitness centres have closed down, what’s left to do? Obviously purchasing the equipment yourself to take things into your hands is the only solution. Having your own home gym is a way to give you the freedom to choose how to exercise, when to exercise and how much. It makes it far easier for you if all you need to do on a cold winter morning is to go down to the basement instead of dressing up, going to your car and driving to the nearest community centre.
Unfortunately, there are so many options out there as to which gym equipment to purchase, which one is the most effective and which brands are the most trustworthy. The huge deluge of information can be too much for someone that doesn’t specialize and doesn’t already have knowledge of which equipment works for them or not. Let’s see some helpful tips as to what to choose from and how to do it.
- Focus on Your Major Muscle Groups
The key thing to focus on when doing a specific exercise is which muscle groups are being impacted. For instance, the barbell shoulder press or the exercise in which you stand straight up feet hip-width apart, point your elbows downwards and hold the barbell in front of your chest. After this, you lift the barbell over your head and straighten your arms whilst tightening your abs and butt. This type of exercise is one that focuses on many muscle groups at once as a great exercise when it comes to getting the greatest benefit for the effort you put in. Your deltoids (shoulders), biceps and triceps, your lats(back muscles) and abdominals all get a workout. Try to only purchase the equipment you need for the exercises you can get the most out of.
- Learn About Yourself - What Are Your Goals?
If you really want to go all in and become a bodybuilder, you should go and buy the best of the best of what’s out there since such a goal requires a lot of determination through daily practice and a lot of hours put in. However, that is the minority of people and probably doesn’t apply to you. If you’re just looking to get fit, you’re most likely going to be taking a more relaxed approach. If you plan on exercising a couple times a week or even every day but only for a relatively short period of time (i.e. less than an hour), you probably are okay with lower-grade exercise equipment.
- What Are Your Limitations?
Everyone of course has a certain budget they need to stick to as well as limitations in terms of the amount of space they have to work with. At the end of the day, if you don’t think you can handle the type of wholesale equipment you’re purchasing now and hoping it will be a better fit for you once you get into shape, it’s probably not for you. It’s always better to take things slow and stay in the present rather than always looking at the future while lamenting the present.
If you’re interested in purchasing gym equipment that caters specifically to your needs with a wide range of uses as well as price ranges, don’t hesitate to start today! “A journey of 10,000 miles begins with a single step.” (Lao Tzu). Visit https://www.fitnessavenue.ca/ to learn more!
