Hello all! Welcome back to the blog. If anyone read my most recent life update, you would know I ended up quarantined for five days. I know I don’t talk about the gym much on the blog, but it is a huge part of my lifestyle. I want to share more of my lifestyle on the blog, so I though it would be interesting to share how COVID affected my overall fitness. Keep reading if you are interested!

Disclaimer:

BACKSTORY

I have been an avid lifter for about five years. I got into lifting as a hobby in college and I have not looked back since. At the moment I have been running the same program (with some small tweaks) for a little over a year, with fantastic results (physique, conditioning especially). You can find it here. The program itself runs for ten weeks. Afterwards, I take a week off the gym and run the “sequel” for about 4 weeks. Take another week of, rinse and repeat. I absolutely adore this program! As I said, I have had great results without completing the optional day. I try my best to eat a balanced diet and get enough sleep.

THE DAY BEFORE I TESTED POSITIVE..

I actually ended up exercising the day before I tested positive (I know, don’t drag me, I had zero symptoms that day). Luckily there was no one in the gym anywhere near me as I tend to stay in the same corner. I had a really good workout and did not notice feeling more winded than usual. I do remember taking my time though because that particular workout is pretty draining on my Central Nervous System.

WHILE SICK…

While I was sick, I was extremely bored. I have heard and witnessed ‘exertional dypsnea’ from caring for COVID patients. I had none of that, there was only once where I was getting up from organizing some files that I felt my heart rate was a little faster than normal at resting. I checked it using a pulse oximeter and it was 108. My normal resting heart rate is around 55-65. That was the only time. Otherwise, I felt great. I did my best to do some gentle stretching because I felt so stiff.

AFTER QUARANTINE…

Alright! Let’s get to the good part: after quarantine. I did not go back to the gym until two days afterwards because I wanted my cough to clear up and it did. The days leading up were rough because my knees, hips and glutes were so sore. This happens when I am not as active as I usually am. Needless to say, I was so happy to be back in the gym! I ended up picking up where I left off in the program and decided to scale back on how heavy I went.

This lift, I had a bit of hang cleans and push press, but everything afterwards was simple pump work. Everything felt great! I did feel like I had lost just a small bit of conditioning, as I had to take longer rest times. I was supposed to do thirty minutes of steady state cardio afterwards, but I stuck with fifteen minutes. I took a rest day afterwards and came back for a Metabolic Conditioning Day. Not going to lie, that was when I felt out of condition. Something I have noticed over the years is consistency is so important for conditioning.

Overall, I do not feel that my fitness ability was harmed greatly by having COVID. I am very grateful and just happy to be back at the barbell!