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SA Lockdown - Planning Sessions

South Africa went into a 21 day lockdown from Midnight 26/27 March, with the first full day being Friday 27 March. For our lockdown, only those providing an essential service or those collecting essential goods (e.g. food and medicines) are allowed out on the streets - this means no exercising or walking dogs outside of houses or in parks.

For many of us, exercise is a daily essential; a way of letting off steam, getting the body moving after sitting behind a computer all day, a way of managing anxiety or stress and for pure enjoyment. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have access to swimming pools, treadmills or stationary bicycles to keep active and to keep up some kind of fitness. For many, it is also going to be hard to keep motivated, so being dedicated and planning will be vital.

My plan of action is as follows:

Monday

AM:

  1. Meditation (2-5 minutes)
  2. Yoga +- 10 Minutes
  3. Morning Exercise routine (10-15 minutes)

Pre-Lunch

  1. USN Daily Challenge (you can find it on their instagram page)
  2. Africa Marathons Daily challenge (you can find it on their instagram page)

PM:

  1. Warm-Up Drills
  2. Bio Exercises (Body weight)
  3. HIIT (15-30 minutes)

Tuesday

AM:

  1. Meditation (2-5 minutes)
  2. Morning Exercise routine (10-15 minutes)

Pre-Lunch

  1. USN Daily Challenge
  2. Africa Marathons Daily challenge

PM:

  1. Warm-Up Drills
  2. Bio Exercises (Prehab)
  3. Stationary Bicycle (10 minute warm-up, short intervals, 10 minute cool down)

Wednesday

AM:

  1. Meditation (2-5 minutes)
  2. Yoga +- 10 Minutes
  3. Morning Exercise routine (10-15 minutes)

Pre-Lunch

  1. USN Daily Challenge
  2. Africa Marathons Daily challenge

PM:

  1. Warm-Up Drills
  2. Bio Exercises (Body weight)
  3. HIIT (15-30 minutes)

Thursday

AM:

  1. Meditation (2-5 minutes)
  2. Morning Exercise routine (10-15 minutes)

Pre-Lunch

  1. USN Daily Challenge
  2. Africa Marathons Daily challenge

PM:

  1. Warm-Up Drills
  2. Bio Exercises (Prehab)
  3. Stationary Bicycle (10 minute warm-up, long intervals, 10 minute cool down)

Friday

AM:

  1. Meditation (2-5 minutes)
  2. Yoga +- 20 Minutes

Pre-Lunch

  1. USN Daily Challenge
  2. Africa Marathons Daily challenge

Saturday

AM:

  1. Warm-Up Drills
  2. Morning Exercise routine (10-15 minutes)
  3. HIIT (15-30 minutes)

Pre-Lunch

  1. USN Daily Challenge
  2. Africa Marathons Daily challenge

PM:

  1. Warm-Up Drills
  2. Stationary Bike - 15 Minutes Easy
  3. Bio Exercises (Body weight)

Sunday

AM:

  1. Warm-Up Drills
  2. Bio Exercises (Prehab)
  3. Stationary Bike (45 - 60 Mins)

PM:

  1. USN Daily Challenge
  2. Africa Marathons Daily challenge

Tips:

  • I find it easier to break up the exercises and sessions, as opposed to doing one large session in one go and doing nothing for the rest of the day.
  • Don't over do it! Doing too much will cause strain on the body and may result in an unwanted injury. Your body will not be use to doing certain exercises or a certain style of exercise such as HIIT and it will need time to adjust.
  • Rest! Recovery is still important. Allocate at least 1 day to nothing strenuous, try some stretching or yoga. 
  • Increase and add new exercises slowly. Its very easy to be tempted to try fit in a new workout or daily challenge, with the amount that pop up daily, but introduce them into your schedule slowly. This can be adding a 5 minute ab session twice a week and the next week 3 times a week. Or increasing your HIIT by 5 minutes or 1 set after a week. 
  • Be aware of inflammation - as your body adapts and adjusts to your new routine, you might find that you pick up a little bit of weight. This is your bodies normal reaction and the inflammation will go down in a week or two. To help reduce the risk of inflammation, I use THRESHHold MSM tablets, 2 tablets twice a day.
  • Try sticking to a routine - set an alarm clock and do exercising at more or less the same time each day. This helps to keep some kind of normal in your life and will help once lockdown is over. I find that if I allow myself to be lazy or sleep in, it is harder to get going or try get in to a routine. I also find that I then battle to fall asleep at night.

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