It’s happening! People in various parts of the country, this part included, are going back to the gym after weeks, and sometimes months, away from it. If you’re going back to the gym soon, too, remember this:
Take Your Time
No matter what type of fitness routine you were following during self-isolation, you probably won’t be able to jump right back to where you were in your gym or studio before it closed. Your treadmill speeds may need to be slower. You may need to lift lighter weights. You may need more rest.
It’s okay.
You’re not starting over completely, but you will probably feel the difference, unless you’ve managed to keep up the exact routine you were in prior to shutdown. Don’t get discouraged. Go into that first in-studio working knowing it’s going to feel a little tough at a lower intensity than you might have been used to.
You’re doing the right thing: taking that first step, getting in there and getting moving. It’s not all going to happen today anyway, so don’t try to make it. Just get that first workout in. Then do another. You’ll be back to your pre-quarantine intensities before you know it.
Be Patient—with Yourself and with Your Coaches
Your coaches and staff are going back to the gym in their roles, as well, and many things have changed. We have new rules and protocols to follow. We will face challenges we don’t even see coming yet. Give us some grace. We’re doing the best we can in this new landscape, and I promise you: now, as ever, we want to create the best training experience possible for you.
Don’t Compare the “Old” Experience to the “New” Experience
If you do, going back to the gym is going to get real depressing, real fast. We loved our gyms and studios: that’s why we were there. And we loved the specific experiences we had there.
Those experiences will not be exactly the same right now.
Hopefully, we’ll get back to that. But for now, things are different. You have to approach and evaluate these workouts based on what they are, not in comparison to what they used to be. If you can stay present with what is, you’ll enjoy what’s happening and you’ll feel grateful to be back in the studio, no matter what the workout is like now.
Be Kind to One Another
On occasion, both right before the shutdown and throughout it, I’ve seen some instances of people showing fear of one another or berating the other’s choice to wear a mask—or to not wear one. (There will always be someone you’re not winning with.)
It unsettled me then, and the thought that we might be moving into a future like that unsettles me now. I hope that we can move forward with kindness and respect, knowing that everyone is doing the best they can with the information they’ve interpreted in line with their own personal evolution and their own instinct to survive and thrive.
I hope we all take personal responsibility for our own health. The virus is doing its virus thing. I’ll do all I can to stay well in the face of it, and I’ll do my part to keep you well, too.
You’re my people, and we’re walking the earth at the same time. I don’t want to be afraid of you; I don’t want you to be afraid of me or the people exercising beside you or the people in line with you in the store. If I get sick, that’s not on you or anyone else.
Let’s move forward in kindness and compassion. That’s true always, but we may need to give it a little more focus as the uncertainty remains.
Enjoy going back to the gym! I know I will.