As you sit at home and scroll through this article, probably looking at a way to get back in shape, I would like to help you in your efforts through a deeply scientific research-based approach in a methodical point-wise manner. The ongoing global pandemic has forced each and every one of us to retreat back to our homes and has undoubtedly had a major impact on both our physical and mental health. Let us now, try and tackle one of those problems.
- WHY SHOULD I EXERCISE AND BE FIT?
The physical benefits of exercise are well known to everyone and I shall not bore you with how it affects our bodies other than the fact that it helps us age well and decreases the risk of many diseases like obesity, type-2 diabetes and high-blood pressure. What I would rather elucidateon are the mental benefits which are definitely a present necessity, needed to fight our mental demons amidst a locked down environment. A study by Sharma etal states that – “Exercise improves mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and negative mood and by improving self-esteem and cognitive function. Exercise has also been found to alleviate symptoms such as low self-esteem and social withdrawal.” As to quantifying the amount, they state that – “Thirty minutes of exercise of moderate intensity, such as brisk walking for 3 days a week, is sufficient for these health benefits. Moreover, these 30 minutes need not to be continuous; three 10-minute walks are believed to be as equally useful as one 30-minute walk.”
2 – NUTRITION – To bust some myths first, there are no scientifically proven diets that help us to battle this ongoing pandemic against the coronavirus. Although the different communities of specific diets (paleo, keto, carnivore diet,etc.) have claimed their diets to be superior, these claims however have had no scientific backing. One study by Goldberg et al in 2019, links the Ketogenic diet with a specific immune response towards influenza virus infection but that being said, this study was done on mice and refers to a different kind of viral infection altogether. Also, warm water WILL NOT help flush down the virus down your alimentary canal where your stomach hydrochloric acid can kill it. Although staying hydrated is a very good idea but that would not help you prevent an infection as effectively as following the social guidelines would. There has also been some murmur regarding how supplementing Vitamin-C can help in the fight against Covid-19. Although Vitamin-C has been proven to be effective against the common cold there has been no concrete study done correlating ascorbic acid (Vitamin-C) and the coronavirus. My general advice however would be to consume whole foods which are minimally processed and natural fruits and vegetables to avoid nutritional deficiencies. One should also try and track their calorie and macronutrient intake through virtual apps if they are serious about their goal. You can calculate your maintenance calories here and adjust your diet accordingly – https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/macronutcal.htm. If you are planning to lose weight and drop some bodyfat then go for a 5-20% calorie deficit whereas if you want to gain some weight or retain your muscle, you should stay on a 5-20% calorie surplus (depending on how aggressively you desire weight loss/gain) and if you do not fall under either of the two categories and want to stay just the way you are then, eating at maintenance calories would be right for you. If you are planning to be in a deficit then make sure to have enough lean protein and if you are planning to eat surplus then focus on your carbohydrate intake along with your protein.
3 -MAINTENANCE (For those who worked out prior to the lockdown) – If you are worried about losing your gained muscle or your progress at the gym then do not be too concerned. A 2013 study by Ogasawara and colleagues had trained a group of people training continuously and periodically for a period of 6 months. The group that trained periodically cycled their training to 3 weeks on and off and did see some muscle loss in the three weeks of detraining but gained it back quickly after resuming normal training (refer to the graph below concerning Tricep Brachialis and Pectoralis Major). Hence, a period of sub-optimal training (even bodyweight exercises) for a few weeks shouldn’t affect your previous hard work as long as you return to your normal routine efficiently whenever it may be.
However, if you are bothered about sub-optimal training for a more prolonged time than a few weeks then I have another paper to support my claim. A study by CS Bickel et.al shows how you can retain most of your muscle mass for up to 8 months by just doing about 12% of your previous workout volume. Volume here refers to the total amount of work performed (approximated by – Sets x Reps x Load).
- WORKOUT – Any good workout startswith a good warm up first. Warm-ups are meant to increase your core body temperature and even helps you prevent injury. Keep in mind that your circadian rhythm largely affects your core body temperature (meaning it will change throughout the day). In some cases, it helps activate the muscles prior to resistance training and research has shown it to exhibit less severe DOMS (Delayed onset of muscle soreness). Some light cardiovascular activity (5-10 minutes), enough to break a light sweat and some dynamic stretches should do the trick.
As for the workouts, I would not go on to mention how to do them or what to do since this article is mostly based on a scientific approach however, I would like to mention that progressive overload is the key to get better in your workouts. It refers to the gradual stress placed upon your body (may or may not be tensile stress) during an exercise. To explain this with an example – If you do 20 push-ups today, then the next day try and get 21 or do 20 in a shorter time interval or with some added resistance. For workouts in general, you may consult the internet and follow some full body workouts which fit your schedule and the volume you require. Try and add resistance to your bodyweight exercises to get better every week (by using bottles, books as weights or by wearing a backpack filled with books, etc) since progressive overload is the key as mentioned by Dr. Bret Contreras here – https://bretcontreras.com/progressive-overload/. Another tip would be to enjoy your workouts and vary it out from time to time as enjoyability and success are correlated. A 2019 study by Baz-Valle et al split 21 trained individuals into two groups and one followed a randomized program with different exercises and repetitions and while the other followed a fixed program of the same exercises for 8 weeks. After the time period was over, although both the groups exhibited the same kind of results, the group with the randomized program claimed to have greater motivation. Finally, make sure that you are resting enough and not overtraining your body. With regard to rest periods, a 2017 paper by Grgic et al states that it’s better to rest longer than 1 minute (for the same body part that you are working on) than it is to rest less than 1 minute for muscle hypertrophy (size increase).
Overall, we see how important it is to work out during this period of distress and keep both our mind and body busy. This article was meant to enlighten the reader on the scientific aspects behind the importance and the do’s and don’ts of basic exercising at home. I wish everyone the best of luck in implementing my tips.
Recommended Read if you were intrigued by my article – https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/expert-answers/body-weight-training/faq-20147966#:~:text=Yes.,free%20weights%20or%20weight%20machines.
References –
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1470658/#:~:text=Exercise%20improves%20mental%20health%20by,self%2Desteem%20and%20cognitive%20function.&text=Exercise%20has%20also%20been%20found,self%2Desteem%20and%20social%20withdrawal.
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31732517/
- https://examine.com/topics/coronavirus/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23053130/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21131862/
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