04/03/2020
Reassuring advice from Sohee! Give this a quick read if you're stressing about losing all of your progress during this time šŖ
Iāve had several clients worry about losing their gains over the next several weeks as their access to the gym is temporarily restricted. You may be nervous about this as well.ā£
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DO NOT WORRY, FRIENDS. ā£
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In actuality, youād have to be on complete bedrest to truly lose significant levels of muscle mass. To maintain what muscle you currently have, only a low level of training volume is required. As long as your muscles are receiving sufficient mechanical stimulus every few days, you can maintain your current levels of muscle mass relatively easily. ā£
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Do what you can and are willing to do at home. Some of us are going to be more limited in equipment than others, which may mean that youāre relying more on bodyweight workouts. If this is the case, you can certainly make an exercise more difficult by increasing the number of repetitions performed, but you can also utilize strategies such as increasing time under tension (e.g. slowing down the eccentric phase, adding a pause) and increasing the lever. Oh, and by the way, donāt underestimate how tough bodyweight workouts can be. ā£
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This may mean 20- to 30-minute sessions twice a week paired with walking/jogging or perhaps some yoga on your other days. This is fine! Or conversely, if youāre feeling extra motivated, you can do daily training sessions (especially if theyāre on the shorter side) as long as youāre feeling recovered. ā£
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Remember: your muscles donāt know what exercise youāre doing; they only know the forces that are being placed on them. ā£
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But at the end of the day, honestly, if you do end up losing some muscle mass, I promise you that youāll be just fine. Any lost muscle mass and strength can be regained relatively quickly once you return to your normal gym routine. And right now, itās far more important that youāre staying safe and healthy and practicing social distancing. ā£
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p.s. Stop hoarding toilet paper. ā£