Working Out During COVID

It’s safe to say that working out at home has been everything but glamorous. Chalkdust everywhere, smelly running shoes, and that dark gritty powder that might’ve leaked from your weighted vest (or at least from mine). Yes, COVID-19 has been a crazy time, to say the least, and keeping up with anything fitness-related has definitely been a challenge. From lifting weights; to completing our cardio; the odds were often stacked against us given our limited space and the potential weather looming outside. But what lessons from COVID-19 can we take away in order to make exercise easier to implement, sustain, and enjoy moving forward? That’s what I hope to cover today.

Working Out During COVID | Key Take-Aways

Because despite this year being anything but normal, there are some lessons we can take away from all the chaos that’s happened as of late (both from a workout perspective and beyond). From working out less to doing more total volume in a session, here are 4 takeaways to implement moving forward to make your exercise routine much more effective.

Take Away #1: Utilize Bodyweight Exercises

Although a bodyweight pushup alone won’t build you the biggest chest, bodyweight exercises like pushups, pullups, dips, and variations of different bodyweight squats/lunges are still great exercises to include for building a strong and aesthetic body. Plus, contrary to what others might admit, bodyweight exercises can still be pretty challenging granted you complete them with a full range of motion.

Bodyweight exercises can also be made easier (push-up on your knees vs. having your feet on the floor) making them very versatile depending on your situation. However, a common question that comes up is: "but can we really use bodyweight exercises if we primarily use free weights/machines at the gym?"

And yes, there are definitely times! For example, certain days or phases of training when you plan to do higher repetition work, including certain bodyweight exercises for variety can be an option for you to consider. Plus, if you’re feeling extra beat up or just want to do a less risky exercise, you can add them into your training when necessary. Benefits such as less stress on the joints, more kinesthetic awareness, and the chance to potentially test your athleticism can all come from doing different bodyweight exercises.

And, if you only wanted to do bodyweight exercises in a certain block of training that required lower reps, this can be done as well. By adding weight or changing the angle in which you perform a given exercise, you can now make it harder to perform. This will help you achieve a lower rep range for the muscles that tend to grow best here (or the muscles you are working within that range).

Take Away #2: You Can Use Volume To Your Advantage

Doing the same repetition number mesocycle after mesocycle isn’t always necessary unless otherwise planned (or you are making the kind of progress you want). This means, incorporating days where you do 15+ repetitions is definitely an option as doing so comes with its own unique benefits. It allows you to drop the weight, which takes much stress off of the joints, gives you the opportunity to clean up your form, and gives you a good pump which is always fun (and potentially important) to experience for muscle growth [3][4]. Repetitions going up to 30 for example have shown beneficial outcomes toward hypertrophy and muscle growth [1].

Training numbers at the start of COVID-19. I did some dips not listed, but 3 exercises in total.

Incorporating higher volumes can also help with any strength pursuit as building a bigger muscle will carry over to your strength [2]. With COVID-19 likely limiting our gym equipment and time spent in the gym, chances are we had to increase our volume in order to get a good workout stimulus. This is okay, as previously discussed, and is something you can implement if you want to improve your performance moving forward.

Take Away #3: Do Less Exercises

Have you ever been there before? Caught doing 4–5 different exercises for one single body part in conjunction with the rest of your routine? Yes, this can be a major time dent for most people and isn’t always necessary depending on your training age. This means, ideas like muscle confusion, keeping the muscles guessing, and other concepts similar aren’t really a thing if you're not following basic adaptation and progression principles; ie: doing more than you did last time.

Therefore, choosing only 1-2 exercises for a given body part per workout may be all you need for quite a long time. There can be some variety thrown in the mix when working a muscle again later that week. But in one single session, it shouldn’t be too complex. Given the situation with COVID-19, your limited workout space and equipment most likely made your exercise selection somewhat limited. However, this can be a good thing from a standpoint of hypertrophy, skill development, and saving time in your exercise routine as keeping things simple is often the best way to see progress.

Take Away #4: Isolation Exercises Are Still Good To Do

Despite some rumors, exercises such as bicep curls, tricep extensions, and calf raises are still important to include if you want to see these muscles grow (often referred to as "synergistic muscles" during compound movements). However, a question that's often asked is, "Aren’t the compound movements sufficient enough to grow these smaller muscles just mentioned?".

And I would say only to a point. Because although closed chained exercises, such as a barbell press or squat, are enough to stimulate and build our synergistic muscles (muscles that support the main movement) they may not be enough to develop them fully.

This means, if you want your surrounding muscles to be the strongest (and biggest) they can be, you’ll want to train them directly. So any variety of curls, tricep extensions, or other specific exercises are still important to include given our own potential “weak points”. Therefore, getting stronger in these isolation exercises will not only grow your smaller muscles but will also help strengthen your larger movements and muscles as well.

Going Back To The Gym after COVID | How To Adapt Moving Forward

As we get back to normal and head back into our original routine, keeping these takeaways in mind can be quite helpful to make your workouts more efficient. Even if you’ve chosen to keep working out at home, applying some of these ideas can still be useful as analysis paralysis and doing too much, too soon can really put a halt to the enjoyment of your routine.

References

1. Israetel, M., Hoffmann, J., Davis, M., & Feather, J. (2021). Scientific Principles of Hypertrophy Training (Renaissance Periodization) [E-book]. Independently published

2. Israetel, M., Hoffmann, J., & Smith, C. W. (2015). Scientific Principles of Strength Training. Publisher Review.

3. Schoenfeld, B. J., & Contreras, B. (2013). The Muscle Pump. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 1. https://doi.org/10.1519/ssc.0000000000000021

4. Schoenfeld, B. J., Contreras, B., Krieger, J., Grgic, J., Delcastillo, K., Belliard, R., & Alto, A. (2019). Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 51(1), 94–103. https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0000000000001764