Keeping your head in the game: Could lockdown transform our training?

Our routine has completely changed, and what an opportunity to learn…

(Video further down has been hugely influential for this post. Also I understand some people are facing some horrible challenges, and for those I think it’s a different situation, just trying to look after yourself and family is in itself an incredible achievement).

For all of us adjusting to such a change in lifestyle, and a loss of our gyms and sports, motivation may be a little inconsistent. It suddenly makes us ask the question of ourselves, so now what are we actually training for?

For all of us that aren’t professional athletes, there’s something in sport and fitness that we innately love, whether that’s the feeling we get after a session, the feeling of completing a movement well, or just being there with friends.
We do it because we love it, because it’s good for us, and we want to keep doing it for a long time.
Whatever part of exercise you enjoy, you’ve just got to keep doing it, whether it’s a dance class at home, or finding inventive ways to keep playing in some way (play is one of the best ways to find flow, which is where our bodies perform so well and we learn our best technique). Whatever exercise you love, do it every day, or at least almost. Whether it’s ten minutes or two hours, make it fun and make it happen.

And yes, it’s tough that our regular routine is on hold, we’ve lost the weights room and the coffee after, we’ve lost the sports fields and meeting our friends with our running shoes on. The more we think about it the more we miss it, but acceptance is key, it’s gone for the moment but it will also be coming back.

It won’t last, so how can we keep ourselves going through all this? How can we return to our gyms and sports healthy, fit and mentally strong?

Firstly I think we need to take things right back and look at what effective training is. Why are we doing it, what do we want from it? Then take it a little further, and what in particular do we wish we could do better? And then with the current situation, how can we use it to our advantage?

This conversation completely nails it, couldn’t recommend it more.

I’ll give an example using my own current routine as a bit of a case study. So what do I want from training? Like a lot of others I want to feel lean, strong and fairly fast, and I want to take part in activities with friends. Also to feel like I’m improving skills, movement quality and flexibility.

I generally train around 7 to9 hours a week, with a mixture of weights training (2 hours) and tennis (5 to 7 hours), and then 4 to 5 hours of Yoga.
However if being honest my weaknesses are clear, I often tire myself out too much, and the small injuries I’ve picked up in the last eighteen months have been trying to train with intensity on days I was already exhausted. Also when very tired my caffeine and sugar intake goes up, and so does buying food out, which is often inferior to homemade quality wise. Also sometimes I need to take several days off to recover from several days on. I then feel bad mentally and demotivated, which has a knock on with sleep quality.

So if we look at my goals and the barriers, lockdown is actually a moment where there’s a huge potential for long term change.

Dropping Bodyfat

Barrier: Too much caffeine and sugar / binge days.

How to fix: More rest, watching / lowering training intensity, cooking more from scratch. Eating to fuel and nourish, rather than to restrict.

Improving Performance

Barrier: Training when tired and injuries

How to fix: Limiting session intensity or volume, consider scaling back or missing a session when too tired for good performance.

Improving Training Regularity

Barrier: Needing time off for recovery

How to fix: Stop going into the red so often, set limits on how I work, and how regularly.

Improving Energy Balance

Barrier: Overtraining / Overtiredness

How To Fix: Get a regular sleep pattern, take naps, reducing training exercises.

So really the key to success for me, and I expect a lot of other people who train a lot is this;

Train as regularly, if not more, but keep the fun, keep the focus and then finish when you’re still feeling good. Occasionally go all out, sure let’s see what you’ve got, but once in a while, don’t beat yourself up, because that’s not where technique improvement and healthy energy lives. This is key, if you want to improve your performance and enjoyment, it’s not possible to train at high intensity regularly. Improvement comes from focus, feel and the mental energy to seek change.

I think long term motivation lives in the space between wanting change and also wanting to have a good time. Sure you can train angry, you can run off frustration, but I’ve always found the clients that found lasting change really enjoyed what they were doing, and preferred their life with exercise and healthier eating it it.

Along these lines, my favourite tennis lesson was an interesting one, as I was squabbling with my friend in class, and frankly wasn’t enjoying it. My coach (Lena Tartakova, former Wimbledon doubles finalist) pulled me aside and explained something that I’ll always remember. Basically, my partner was stressing, and complaining to me, whilst I was playing very well. I then bit back and my performance fell of a cliff. She explained that actually for my own performance, I needed to change the energy, to laugh off his stress, and lighten the mood. That was my responsibility as I had to protect my energy to protect my performance.
However before she stepped in, the only options I saw in that moment were to shout back, or ignore him and be angry internally. This is a bit like a lot of us at the moment, caught between two options; training hard or not at all. But there’s a third option, train, see what happens, do a bit, or do a lot, try some things out. Then why not again tomorrow?

For me when you think of a great moment, in training or competition, we were barely there, we were completely engrossed but calm, light and happy, and we tried and it all just came together. That’s the energy we need around our training to get more of those moments, because they’re what keep us coming back, and putting the energy and sacrifice into it. (To be in shape and performing well we do need to sacrifice a certain amount of unhealthy stuff, that’s just how it is).

So back to lockdown, the perfect moment to spend more time doing little, recovering and relaxing, cooking yourself simple, healthy meals. Help your brain and your body. A lot of us have had tried different meals with less available, and it’s really reminded me that simple food made at home is still king for your health and body shape.

(Sample good day at the moment: Porridge with jam, pasta with veg and pesto, fish cake and roasted veg, plus coffee, dark choc rice cake and a small dessert).

If you haven’t been training as much, what a perfect time to get used to building it back into your routine. Do something you enjoy, or at least enjoy a little, and try and do some every day.

What helpful things we’ve lost training wise, we’ve gained a great opportunity nutrition and recovery wise, and that’s often where we lose a lot of our potential improvements.

Let’s reassess what we’re getting right, (and not so right) with our health and fitness, and why not make yourself your project for this time under lockdown?

I’d like to imagine people smiling, exercising and playing, experimenting with different exercises and training types, and putting the joy back into their exercise. We live in an age with too much data and not enough self reflection, so maybe this is the perfect moment to see which road we want to take with our future training.

Wishing you all the best, keep that fire burning.