From home workouts to compressed workouts, through the rediscovery of physical activity in the open air. The pandemic has brought new habits to the world of training but also dusted off old practices
“I stay at home”. An emblematic formula, to summarize a critical moment. With these words, the former premier Giuseppe Conte summarized the decree of national lockdown in the press conference of 9 March 2020. The pandemic was advancing, so were the concerns. Among the many closures imposed, that of sports and gyms. Since then, changes, new habits and old practices have been dusted off.
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PHASE 1 – Sport is forced to stop, but it is already thinking about how to start again because dynamism is in its nature. No gyms or outdoor workouts. The perspective changes for everyone, physical activity becomes a lack even for the laziest. To do it, the walls of the house and some old dusty tools remain. Solutions are sought on the web and on social networks. Online workouts are spreading, organized for groups by gym instructors, but also by personal trainers to continue following their assistants step by step. In the beginning, the free body is the solution. The push-up , we look for holds to get inside with the tractions , the squat he lunges they are improvised in a homemade version, with homemade loads (cases of water, for example). The abdominals are never lacking and with the plank and exercises like the wall sit we understand the importance of isometria . There are ways to train. Those who approach physical activity driven by boredom start with total body cards, essential for soliciting a hibernating body. The more experienced, on the other hand, try them all to re-set the usual work for muscle groups.
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STEP 2 – In the months of closure, the routine becomes sedentary. Workouts are prepared at home, as well as sweets and high-calorie dishes to combat the negativity brought about by the pandemic. The lucky ones have treadmills and exercise bikes at their disposal to “burn”, but a few extra kilos also come for the most attentive. To get back to cardio and really get back into motion, you have to wait for the dpcm on April 26, which sets the start of the second phase on May 4. of the emergency, accompanied by the ok for individual motor activity outdoors. Precautions? Only one, a safe distance of at least two meters from any other person. Then the pleasure of running in the park is rediscovered, the beach running , you get on your bike and design outdoor training circuits to work on the whole body.
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TOWARDS THE SUMMER – Another three weeks of waiting and everything returns (almost) as before: on May 25th gyms reopen . Thinking about a normal summer does not seem like a mirage and you enter the weight room to prepare for the costume fitting in an anomalous situation. Time is running out, every effort must be calibrated and optimized for the goal to be achieved. Together with the classic activities, to compress the times and combine the “mass” phase with the “definition” phase, the most advanced choose super set training. Technique not suitable for everyone, consists in performing two (or more) exercises in succession, with a pause only at the end of the second (or last). How to proceed? By coupling movements with focus on the same muscle group or on different groups.
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A NEW CLOSURE – The situation stabilizes, the warm season advances and sets. In September, the routine seems to be the same as always, but the increase in the number of infections does not bode well. Doubts, hypotheses, last chances. The circle closes on 25 October with the government measure that puts the padlock on the gyms again, in the crosshairs of discussions already in previous weeks. Even if the first lockdown seems like a distant memory, it goes backwards but does not start from scratch. Physical activity in the open air is still allowed, the homemade fitness known and appreciated months before is not abandoned. At least for now.
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March 1 – 11:48
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