I hear a few of my friends complaining about how the gym is being shut down during these trying times and even though I actually am one of the people that definitely believes this is overblown by the media, I think that the gym is actually one of the first places that should have been shut down.
I take everything I see in the news with a grain of salt but the prevailing opinion is that the virus can exist on metals and fabrics longer than other surfaces and guess what pretty much everything in the gym is made of? Therefore, I stopped going to the gym quite a while before it was mandated by the government.
Those of us that are not going to stop being interested in fitness still want to get some activity done though, right? So what have you been doing? My program has been pretty simple and to those of you out there that are interested in maintaining fitness levels during the "social distancing" portion of this Corvid thing, I would imagine that yours is similar.
Running outdoors
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Obviously you should try to keep your distance from other people as much as possible but as science shows us time and time again, people who exercise are far more likely to have stronger immune systems and this is exactly what you need during this process. I don't do much, maybe like 5-10k / day and do so in an area where it is easy for me to stay away from crowds. "Outside is better than in" the experts are saying right now and if you are a gym runner, you are going to be working out parts of your body that a treadmill simply can not replicate, so you may actually achieve some balance in your workout that you otherwise wouldn't hit.
Resistance Bands
It is extremely unlikely that you can build muscle mass with resistance bands because they can not replicate high amounts of weight and isolation can be a bit tricky. However, this broad-spectrum workout is more than good enough to maintain the muscle you have already gained while the gyms are closed. I use mine daily just to get a bit of a "burn" in each day and i notice that tightening in my arms and chest that I enjoy from the gym so much.
These cost as little as $10 and can be delivered pretty much anywhere in the world. If you don't already have a set, now could be a great time to get a set. I promise it will be helpful in your life even after this virus thing is behind us.
Of course there is also calisthenics such as push ups, lunges, and burpees and these are always good.
I think that now that most of us are spending more time at home the biggest problem that most of us will face is diet. Since many people are quite limited in what they are able to acquire as far as food is concerned, we need to be extra careful during these times. I fell into a carb trap in the past week because the only places that were open were the drive thrus at fast food joints, which can still be ok, but we gotta be careful.
So go for a run, do some situps during your government enforced Netflix binge-watch session, or simply be careful about what you are throwing in your gullet. We'll get through this and perhaps have a better appreciation for overall health at the end of it.
What are you doing during these times to maintain your fitness levels? I'd like to hear about it!