We’re living in a new world. With the “Great Quarantine of 2020” we have all had to make adjustments in our lives ranging from how we work to how we shop to how we balance our various responsibilities in the COVID-19 environment.
For many of us, our routines with how we train and how we take care of our bodies (and minds) have been drastically altered as well. Without the gyms, training facilities, equipment, and parks that we are accustomed to with our training, new challenges have emerged in staying focused and productive to our physical conditioning commitments.
As a full-time trainer and instructor at Everybody Fightsand TB12 I always stress a common goal of functional training with my clients in building the necessary strengths to make normal everyday activities easy.
Functional training is repeating exercises that are used to “enhance” the way we perform daily functions (i.e. picking up your baby from a crib or keeping your spine stable and linear and shoulders back while you sit at your desk). The main focus on these exercises is to improve the strength and stability in your core and lower back, and also shoulder mobility.
The core of my programs as a trainer and motivator is finding the passions of my clients -what makes them tick- and building them a curriculum that will make them healthier and happier.
A big thing I have discovered during my time at Everybody Fights is that a lot of the lessons we learn in the ring are connected to what we do in everyday life.
Now more than ever functional training is essential. For me it’s not about creating the hardest workout possible, it is about adapting to and finding what exercises will benefit our health and movement the most in our current socially isolated lives.
Many of us are forced to be sitting around now and are more stagnant than ever. This, in turn, leads to stiffness in our legs and lower back pain. It’s important to find ways to elongate the hip flexor and focus on movements that counteract the dormant environment of the day. We need to focus on a full range of motion in movements which will help with any joint or muscle pain over a long amount of time, much of what can be credited to the TB12 method.
Here are some tips to help along the way as you push forward through quarantine:
- Find a routine and STICK TO IT. Pick your favorite instructors and either reach out to them or find their classes and take them. We are all here to help.
- Try something new! Put a new form or exercise into your routine. For example, if you have always wanted to try yoga but you are too afraid to go into a studio, now is your time!
- Create a standing desk or set an alarm for every 20 mins to stand, stretch and move around.
- HYDRATE! Drink more water now then you would at work or during your pre-pandemic days. This will help our body digest and function. You might even sleep better!
- Nutrition is always key but now this should be emphasized more than ever. Limit your little snacks throughout the day and always try to find a healthy option. I recommend to all my clients, no carbs or sugar after 5pm and -if their schedule permits them- to not eat after 8pm.
- Focus on SELF-CARE. Be a little selfish. This thing will be over soon, and you will be back to a crazy “normal” schedule in no time. NOW is the time to relax, and not worry too much about the “quarantine weight” you have supposedly put on.
I wish you all a safe and healthy quarantine. If any of you have any questions or need suggestions with anything fitness or health related during your social isolation, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. It would be my honor to help.
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Rob Velasquez is a full-time trainer and instructor at both Everybody Fights and TB12. He was a founding father and 3-year captain of the football program at Endicott College in Beverly. Rob takes great pride in pushing his clients outside their comfort zones and motivating them into fulfilling their greatest potential and becoming the best version of themselves. He can be reached at: rvelas59@gmail.com.
