For most of us, working from home during the pandemic means having a bit of extra time on our hands.
With travel generally limited to 10km, there’s nowhere to rush to, no traffic jams to battle and no glasses to clink at social events.
While watching shows on streaming platforms and shopping online rate highly at this time, others are taking the opportunity to spend more time with family, learn how to cook, pick up an old or new hobby, catch up on sleep or jump on the exercise bandwagon.
And since the situation is unlikely to change in the near future, people are still finding ways to adapt and cope.
If you don’t know what to do with this spare time, perhaps you can consider squeezing in a few minutes of exercise or physical activity.
Like I mentioned in my previous column, physical activity includes any movement, such as household or occupational chores, gardening, sports, etc, which are not aimed at inducing stress.
Exercise is a subset of physical activity that is planned, structured and repetitive, with the final objective of improving or maintaining physical fitness.
Don’t wait until the beginning of next year to start something.
Just 10 minutes
According to the American Psychological Association, an average of 93% of people make New Year’s resolutions.
The most common resolutions are exercising more and improving fitness, losing weight, saving money and eating healthier.
However, by February, 45% will have failed to keep their resolutions, and only 19% continue for two years.
Lack of willpower or self-control was the top cited reason for not following through.
Newcomers to exercise often struggle with commitment issues and drop out when life gets challenging.
It’s only natural to want to opt out or procrastinate when you don’t enjoy doing something or the body is in pain.
Try timing your activities so that you feel a sense of achievement at the end of the session (there is no need for a fitness tracker to count steps).
Completing something always gives human beings a feeling of satisfaction.
The amount of time you spend exercising or moving can vary according to the type of activity you’re doing, so there really is no “perfect” length for it.
Hence the importance of timing your workouts to ensure you’re getting the most benefit without overdoing things.
Some people allocate an hour, others a few minutes, and the diehards, hours.
More is not necessarily better in this context as long hours may actually set you back.
Schedule at least 10 minutes a day to follow a consistent routine.
This could be as simple as swinging your arms, marching on the spot or walking around your space.
Making the action repetitive allows your brain to get used to it, until eventually it doesn’t feel like a chore any more.
It becomes a habit and you’ll stick to it.
Even the busiest of persons can find 10 minutes to spare.
Put on two or three of your favourite songs and do your activity.
You’ll be surprised how quickly the 10 minutes fly by when you’re listening to tunes that perk you up.
Consistency and rest
The best workouts are the ones that can be done any time, any where, without much equipment and at minimal cost.
Any activity or workout regime is only effective when you stay true to it, and one factor that affects this is convenience and accessibility.
A workout that you can consistently perform in the comfort of your own home 24/7 is one that you have control over and one where you can dictate the terms instead of your local gym.
The only drawback is that it takes discipline and commitment.
In a gym setting, there are numerous fitness classes you can join, so you know you’ll get 30 to 60 minutes of workout each time.
However, if you prefer to work on machines and free weights, you may not necessarily achieve all that you intend to do, because quite often, you’ll take breaks between each machine or see a friend and start chatting.
So, you may spend hours in the gym, but in reality, only 30 minutes has been spent on actually working on your body.
Feeling guilty, you head back the next day, and this cycle continues.
Bear in mind that when you do a tough workout – particularly when you’re working on weight or resistance training to build strength – your body needs downtime to rest and rebuild.
In fact, a tough workout, while releasing the stress hormones, creates other stresses and causes micro tears in the muscle fibres.
It can lead to a dip in the immune system for up to 72 hours.
If you don’t give your body that day or two of rest between sessions, it can’t repair the micro tears to make the muscles stronger.
Besides, you might become more angry, irritable or depressed from the fatigue.
If you have a heart rate monitor, watch your resting heart rate.
If it suddenly increases, it’s an indication that your body is under stress.
Scale back on the workout.
A normal resting heart rate for adults ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute.
Generally, a lower heart rate at rest implies more efficient heart function and better cardiovascular fitness.
Seek help if your resting heart rate is consistently above 100 beats a minute (tachycardia), or if you’re not a trained athlete and your resting heart rate is below 60 beats a minute (bradycardia), especially if you have other signs or symptoms like fainting, dizziness or shortness of breath.
Intensity and immunity
Most of the data out there supports a positive relationship between exercise and changes to the immune system.
But the exercise “dose” matters.
When moderate exercise lasts less than 45-60 minutes, there are both short and long-term benefits.
“There is a general consensus that regular bouts of short-lasting (i.e. up to 45 minutes) moderate-intensity exercise is beneficial for host immune defence, particularly in older adults and people with chronic diseases,” write researchers in a 2020 study published in Exercise Immunology Review.
At the same time, many researchers in the field of exercise immunology believe that repeated bouts of arduous high-intensity exercise lasting over two hours, can compromise the immune system.
In addition, they have observed that there may be an enhanced antibody-specific response when vaccinations are preceded by a single bout of moderate exercise, although more research is needed to fully understand that benefit.
With some parks now open, you can recruit an exercise buddy to go for a casual stroll, brisk-walking or a jog, according to your comfort level.
Remember to stay at least 2m apart though.
There are many benefits to having a workout buddy, from the social element to the increased accountability in showing up and doing the work.
Having an outdoor environment where you can see others also exercising might give you the continued motivation to do the same.
Your single “dose” doesn’t have to be long or intense – do what you can manage because you will still reap some benefits.
It’s pointless allocating 45 minutes and miserably going through a routine or chore that you dislike.
So, time yourself, but commit a minimum of 10 minutes daily.
Revathi Murugappan is a certified fitness trainer who tries to battle gravity and continues to dance to express herself artistically and nourish her soul. For more information, email starhealth@thestar.com.my. The information contained in this column is for general educational purposes only. Neither The Star nor the author gives any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to such information. The Star and the author disclaim all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.
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