Once again, we are in another lockdown which means all non-essential shops and businesses are closed from retail stores, cafes, and restaurants to gyms(!).
You may feel a small bit of envy towards runners and cyclists who can carry on their cardiovascular workouts with ease outside of the gym.
Of course, this may seem a challenge since you won’t be able to visit the gym for the next few weeks, so you don’t want to see those much worked for gains disappear. But fear not, we are here to tell you how you can maintain your muscle during this lockdown.
Muscle doesn’t suddenly go away
First things first, it’s important to know that your muscle won’t suddenly fade away if your workouts become less regular than they were during normal civilisation so there’s no need to panic!
In some instances, it can be good for your body to take 2-3 weeks away from training which can allow your body to recover and help to reduce fatigue. However, it’s also important to know that you shouldn’t go beyond 3 weeks, at which point you can do some resistance exercise to allow you to maintain (and even make) gains.
Maintain a balanced diet
Eating well and maintaining a balanced diet can help you to maintain muscle. Protein intake is the most important thing to remember as a high protein intake can help prevent you from losing muscle.
It is recommended that you take 2.2g of protein per kg of body weight (in other words, 1 gram of protein per 1 pound of body weight). So, for example, if 84kg is what you weigh, you would need to consume roughly 38g of protein every day.
Exercises you can do from home
Push-ups
Push-ups, nothing beats ‘em!
They are great at helping to build and maintain muscle in your chest, triceps, and your shoulders.
Even though everyone knows what they are and what they look like, many people fail to perform a correct push-up.
It is important when doing a push-up to keep a proper form, therefore you can keep track of your progress.
When performing a push-up, you should remember to always keep your body completely straight, try not to arch your back or sag. You can position however you like as long as it’s comfortable for you, whether that may be close together or far apart.
Squats
Squats are another important exercise, they can help to strengthen your legs and glutes, as well as other muscles too such as those in your lower back. They can also help to strengthen your core which helps you to maintain good posture as well as give you better balance.
Another benefit of squats is, as you may know, is that they can help you to develop and maintain explosive speed and strength.
It’s important that you perform the squat correctly, as an incorrect squat won’t get to the right muscles and can put further stress on your ligaments and joints, as well as potentially increasing the risk of injury.
When performing a squat, make sure that you push your butt backward as well as bending your knees. Keep your knees aligned with your toes and also remember to keep your head straight and make sure that your back isn’t rounded.
Pull-ups
Pull-ups may be a tad bit tricky to do at home, especially if you don’t own a pull-up bar, so you may have to improvise a bit.
One way may be to do pull-ins instead by wrapping a bath towel around both sides of a door handle and use the ends of the towel to pull yourself inwards towards the edge of the door in a rowing motion.
To get into the starting position you should squat down and extend your arms whilst holding the ends of the towel, then pull your upper body towards the door whilst making sure that your back remains straight so that you do a row which works your back muscles.
Running
It’s always good to try and maintain your cardiovascular fitness, and running is perfect for that!
Running is very good at maintaining your leg muscles and is very easy to do outside of the gym, whether on a treadmill at home or outside in the open.
Running can help you to stay mentally and physically therapeutic which is important to have especially during these difficult times.
Sprinting can help you if you want to maintain your speed and power as these two things decline a bit more quickly, so if you include sprinting into your sessions it will help you keep onto them.
Start now
Start now spending time on your training and exercises to maintain your muscle and don’t worry it’s perfectly normal to perhaps be demotivated at this point in time and want to lie in front of the TV all day. But you’re not the only one out there feeling like this, you can do this we believe in you!
Once again, we are in another lockdown which means all non-essential shops and businesses are closed from retail stores, cafes, and restaurants to gyms(!).
You may feel a small bit of envy towards runners and cyclists who can carry on their cardiovascular workouts with ease outside of the gym.
Of course, this may seem a challenge since you won’t be able to visit the gym for the next few weeks, so you don’t want to see those much worked for gains disappear. But fear not, we are here to tell you how you can maintain your muscle during this lockdown.
Muscle doesn’t suddenly go away
First things first, it’s important to know that your muscle won’t suddenly fade away if your workouts become less regular than they were during normal civilisation so there’s no need to panic!
In some instances, it can be good for your body to take 2-3 weeks away from training which can allow your body to recover and help to reduce fatigue. However, it’s also important to know that you shouldn’t go beyond 3 weeks, at which point you can do some resistance exercise to allow you to maintain (and even make) gains.
Maintain a balanced diet
Eating well and maintaining a balanced diet can help you to maintain muscle. Protein intake is the most important thing to remember as a high protein intake can help prevent you from losing muscle.
It is recommended that you take 2.2g of protein per kg of body weight (in other words, 1 gram of protein per 1 pound of body weight). So, for example, if 84kg is what you weigh, you would need to consume roughly 38g of protein every day.
Exercises you can do from home
Push-ups
Push-ups, nothing beats ‘em!
They are great at helping to build and maintain muscle in your chest, triceps, and your shoulders.
Even though everyone knows what they are and what they look like, many people fail to perform a correct push-up.
It is important when doing a push-up to keep a proper form, therefore you can keep track of your progress.
When performing a push-up, you should remember to always keep your body completely straight, try not to arch your back or sag. You can position however you like as long as it’s comfortable for you, whether that may be close together or far apart.
Squats
Squats are another important exercise, they can help to strengthen your legs and glutes, as well as other muscles too such as those in your lower back. They can also help to strengthen your core which helps you to maintain good posture as well as give you better balance.
Another benefit of squats is, as you may know, is that they can help you to develop and maintain explosive speed and strength.
It’s important that you perform the squat correctly, as an incorrect squat won’t get to the right muscles and can put further stress on your ligaments and joints, as well as potentially increasing the risk of injury.
When performing a squat, make sure that you push your butt backward as well as bending your knees. Keep your knees aligned with your toes and also remember to keep your head straight and make sure that your back isn’t rounded.
Pull-ups
Pull-ups may be a tad bit tricky to do at home, especially if you don’t own a pull-up bar, so you may have to improvise a bit.
One way may be to do pull-ins instead by wrapping a bath towel around both sides of a door handle and use the ends of the towel to pull yourself inwards towards the edge of the door in a rowing motion.
To get into the starting position you should squat down and extend your arms whilst holding the ends of the towel, then pull your upper body towards the door whilst making sure that your back remains straight so that you do a row which works your back muscles.
Running
It’s always good to try and maintain your cardiovascular fitness, and running is perfect for that!
Running is very good at maintaining your leg muscles and is very easy to do outside of the gym, whether on a treadmill at home or outside in the open.
Running can help you to stay mentally and physically therapeutic which is important to have especially during these difficult times.
Sprinting can help you if you want to maintain your speed and power as these two things decline a bit more quickly, so if you include sprinting into your sessions it will help you keep onto them.
Start now
Start now spending time on your training and exercises to maintain your muscle and don’t worry it’s perfectly normal to perhaps be demotivated at this point in time and want to lie in front of the TV all day. But you’re not the only one out there feeling like this, you can do this we believe in you!