I think people are going to come out of this one of two ways - half will come out fitter, mentally and physically, more positive, with new interests and skills and stronger relationships, and the other half are going to come out a mess (understandably.)
Im also not eating as fresh as I normally do. I can usually get fish and vegetables and cook the day of. Now I gotta stock up on groceries for the week to reduce shopping frequency.
For me it’s the variety of city food I miss the most. I live quite a way out from where I work and while there are still a few open takeaways, they’re pretty average in quality and lacking in variety. However there are larger and mostly well stocked supermarkets so buying fresh food to last the week hasn’t been a problem (most veg will last a week albeit some items will need to be refrigerated). However I definitely feel your pain about fish.
To be honest very little has changed with regards to shopping for me because i have two young kids and my wife works full time as well, so we are used to doing big weekly shops since that’s the most practical way for us to shop even pre-COVID19. I guess the biggest change is where we used to order it online and have it delivered, now we are driving to the store and picking the items ourselves.
Anything needing special equipment or terrain, for example. If you want to do a climbing workout you're going out of luck without a rockface in your back garden or your own climbing wall, aren't you.
> I guess the biggest change is where we used to order it online and have it delivered, now we are driving to the store and picking the items ourselves.
This seems like the opposite of what you'd want to do - why are you doing this?
In theory you’d be right but I the reason I asked is because there’s usually workouts you can still do at home to keep at least some of those muscles in shape even if you can’t do your usual training routines without using any specialist equipment. Granted sometimes you have to get a little creative but it’s certainly doable for most gym exercises that immediately sprint to mind.
Take the rock climbing example: I used to train at home doing pull ups on door frames on the weeks I couldn’t make it to an indoor climbing wall (though that was quite a few years ago now).
> This seems like the opposite of what you'd want to do - why are you doing this?
I agree and it’s not through choice I do it. The problem is everyone else agrees too and thus it has become impossible to book delivery slots due to the volume of demand.
Right, but you asked 'what workouts are they that cannot be done without access to a gym' and you're suggesting other workouts to keep the same muscles working. Yeah fine, but that's not the same workout, which is what you asked.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
As a climber who currently does finger pull ups on my door frame, there is so much I can't do. A lot of climbing is body position and control of your center of mass. You can't practice proper technique for climbing without a wall. There's just also things you can't do without the height. As an avid sport climber, I would usually end my days climbing doing lead laps. This helps make clipping second nature because you're doing it till you can't do it anymore. I can't even think of a way to remotely simulate that at home and it has been such a critical component of my workout. It is the thing that allows me to do multi-pitch no problem and it is the thing that helps me sleep at night.
Can’t wait to get back on rock Thursday out official “opening” date. planning on doing a 5.8 5 pitch multi right off the bat after 8 months off
I'm doing what I can but working out intentionally like that sucks when it used to just be fun. Heh
With the bored sports, while you obviously couldn’t train your board skills, you could still keep working on those muscles and stamina at home through different training exercises.
I agree none of this is the same as going to your gym et al, but my point wasn’t that you could do identical training at home. It was that you could do something similar to at least keep yourself reasonably sharp.
Same for surfing, keeping busy with a skateboard though. Paddle endurance is taking a hit.
Focusing on general strength training, flexibility and improving your endurance is much better use of your time than doing these solo drills.
You’ll never lift or replicate anywhere near 100-200kg+ with home body weight workouts.
If you do general fitness, circuits etc home workouts can be good for that.
I guess it all depends on what you are training for.
Cardio's easier to transition elsewhere, strength ... possible though the "big lifts" (squats, deads) are least easily converted, especially in shared / limited space. Having your upstairs apartment neighbour doing sets of deads could get annoying.
Anything with equipment or dedicated structures will be less convenient.
We'll be fine once this is over and we can get back to our old routines.
It wasn’t ideal but it worked for a few months until I got my first job.
Pull ups are one of the easier problems to solve at home. You can get bars for your doorway that extend out like stair gates. Or if you have a fat enough door frame and strong enough fingers you could pull up directly from the frame (I used to do this too).
Obviously you know your situation better than I do so I’m not meaning any of the above to sound preachy. I also get that proper equipment makes a world of difference and using improper equipment can add an element of risk.
Pull up bars mostly work the back muscles but don’t provide enough isolation to work the biceps.
I have however seen a video recommending bicep curls where your arms pull against a towel folded across your foot, which pushes in the other direction. By locking the elbows, isolation is achieved and your leg which has larger muscles than your arms provides the counterweight. It’s not ideal but it’s better than nothing.
A strap/webbing system might help for pulls, if you have a suitably high attachment point.
My food has been pretty much perfect. I’ve reduced calories to match reduced activity but what I eat is still proportioned correctly, lean meats, vegetables, rice/potatoes.
What I have noticed though is due to isolation only going out when necessary, not lifting weights four days a week, no general daily walking about and no cardio is that now walking up the four flights of stairs to my apartment I’m getting slightly out of breath when I shouldn’t. I’m getting cardiovascular unfit when at the start of the year I was the fittest I’ve ever been.
I’ve also noticed body composition changes. I’ve lost 1-2 kilo, looking a lot less muscular / smaller. As food has been good I don’t think there’s an increase in body fat I just have less mass overall. When you’ve been training hard it’s demotivating.
Things are starting to relax as where I am the numbers are very good so am going to start going for runs to get my cardio back even though I’m not a runner. That’ll again make body composition less muscular as burn off more calories.
For the gym to do my weight training, unfortunately they will be the last to open and it’s a huge mental down knowing I’ll essentially need to start from the very beginning again.
With you until the last part. This is an inward period. People are getting to know themselves, improving themselves, learning to be more independent, etc. because the space previously occupied by other people has been freed.
Unless you're talking about cohabitants? Seems to me that excessive contact would ruin the strongest relationships even faster than no contact would.
Fair assumption, but my fiancé and I are doing just fine. If anything this proved for sure that we can go ahead and get married.
What COVID-19 lockdown has revealed, imo: relationships that were on shaky ground accelerate their demise [0]. Those that were "meant to be" come out more intimate.
[0] Breaking up after realizing you can't survive 24/7 together is not necessarily a bad thing.
i personally enjoy this period and wouldn't mind if the lockdown stays up for a few more months/years lol
Unless you're talking about cohabitants? Seems to me
that excessive contact would ruin the strongest
relationships even faster than no contact would.
Folks cohabitating in cramped living conditions 24/7, particularly in the city where they can't just easily go outside and enjoy some fresh air and open space? Yikes. I mean, even in prison they give ya outdoor time and you get to mingle in the yard.
At the opposite end of the spectrum you have people living out in the country or the suburbs in houses with multiple rooms. My partner and I fall into this category. We each have our own work spaces and outside of work hours we can spend time together or we have plenty of space in which to avoid each other. Plus we can go for walks and get fresh air and some minimal social interaction with neighbors and fellow dog walkers from a safe distance. I call this "social distancing on easy mode." Our relationship is doing okay.