"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow" (Keller)
New Expert Witness Advice on fitness during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In these troubled and demanding times, it is all too easy to focus on the negative and worrying factors that affect our lives. However, the silver lining of this particularly ominous COVID-19 cloud is the very positive opportunity for individuals and families to have that precious commodity of a little more time to "do other stuff".
Garages are now looking unbelievably tidy, lawns are neatly trimmed and there is plenty of clutter bagged and ready for the visit to the council rubbish dump. It’s time to breathe and perhaps think about one’s personal health and well-being.
On my long (and normally secluded) runs in the lovely Welsh countryside I have been mightily impressed and really encouraged by seeing so many individuals, couples and young families out walking or cycling, and enjoying the beautiful sunshine. In terms of the weather it has been fortuitous that the warm and sunny days have coincided with the lockdown period. Anyone who is blessed with young children will certainly agree that the opportunity for the little ones to get outside has been a really helpful part of their "new school day"!
Fitness programmes on the television, or online, have also provided both young and old with an opportunity to perhaps start a new fitness regime, or be motivated to carry on with exercise now that the health clubs are closed.
However, a note of caution for those folks whose fitness profile is not at its optimum (the proverbial coach potato). The advice to start carefully and build your intensity and duration for exercise along a steady and smooth path is well founded in scientific research. Too much too soon can be harmful to health, particularly if there are any underlying health issues.
Once a safe and sound fitness base is established, participants can build their fitness capacity, increase their enjoyment and enhance their health profile. Loosing body fat, increasing muscle mass, gaining strength and endurance and increasing one’s cardio-vascular capacity has life improving benefits – as they say, “die young, as late as possible” and “add years to life and life to years”.
Sir Ian Botham remarked some years ago “We’re here for a good time, not for a long time,” the essence of the message being that we should all enjoy our lives to the full by having the physical capacity to function efficiently and effectively.
So whatever exercise you do, do it well and enjoy doing it.
The range for taking exercise is now tremendous and includes such things as, training indoors with a stationary bike, cross trainer or rower, lifting some weights, or doing simple weight related floor exercises, The wide variety of stretching/flexibility work, which is so important, should be practiced by all ages.
In the outdoors, walking, cycling, or running can be enjoyed, especially if the weather is good.
So always look on the bright side, let your glass be more than half full and take this unique opportunity to focus on doing something that is really good for your health and wellbeing. Set some realistic goals if you need to, or as Nike states, “just do it” – have fun and stay safe!
