Fitness: Getting Back In Pre-Quarantine Shape

Michael Hauf working out.

While general-membership fitness facilities are still closed, personal training studios are allowed to be open again!

There are certain guidelines for these studios. The temperature of each client is taken upon entry with a no-contact thermometer. Everyone’s equipment is pre-staged and sanitized before arrival. No equipment sharing. Proper masking and distancing guidelines have to be followed.

Everything is running smoothly (and safely). We’re back! What’s not back is some of my clients’ strength and endurance. Some people took this three-month break from the gym as an opportunity to watch all of the Netflix library. I’m on Season 5 of “Vikings” on Hulu myself. But I had an entire gym to myself for those three months, so I’m stronger than ever. And my Viking beard is coming in nicely.

I’ve noticed some of my clients fared a little better than others in terms of strength loss even though they watched just as much “Tiger King” as the rest of them. What makes some people maintain strength more than others? How fast do people lose strength? And how quickly can you get it back? If there is going to be another break from the gym (or if your gym is still closed), what can we do to maintain fitness? Are those Viking beards real or are they prosthetics?

As it is with many things in life, the answers to these questions depend on age, experience, and vibrancy of beard. When compared to younger individuals, the older population will lose strength and muscle mass significantly faster. In a comparative study in 2000, researchers found that young men and women experienced decline significantly less than the decline in the older men and women after 31 weeks. So, it is increasingly important to maintain consistency with exercise as you age. It’s harder to maintain in times you can’t train (perhaps because of a quarantine) and harder to regain strength once you get back to training the older you get.

Previous training experience is also a big factor in regaining strength and size after an extended break. You’re not the only one who remembers how strong you were and how good you looked in the mirror back when you were training. Your muscles remember, too. Apparently, your genes are able to “remember” how big and strong you were and are then able to return your muscles to that size and strength a lot faster than someone who is trying to build muscle for the first time.

A study in Scientific Reports titled “Human Skeletal Muscle Possesses an Epigenetic Memory of Hypertrophy” proves your genes remember specific metabolic processes that cause muscle hypertrophy (growing) and are able to return to efficiency with these processes a lot faster than people attempting hypertrophy for the first time. So trained individuals regain strength and size much more efficiently than novice trainees. Athletes will begin to lose strength about three to four weeks into detraining.

In another separate study I just made up, apparently Viking strength is directly proportional to the size of their beard. Evidence is purely anecdotal.

So, with your general membership gyms still being closed, what do you do? Here at Seven Mile Beach, now that businesses have adapted to new guidelines, there are plenty of options to keep you going. There is a huge selection of outdoor fitness classes offered through the boroughs and many private businesses have commandeered whatever outdoor space they have available. You can see spin classes out on the sidewalk in the middle of the business district, yoga on the beaches, paddleboard classes in the basins, and boot camps in the fields. All of these options should at least keep you going until your facility opens or at best provide a new training stimulus to give you some new gains.

Gentle hint: If you want to keep your gym in business so you have one to go back to once it’s allowed to open, I urge you to go to these classes. These classes may be the only revenue these gyms are seeing, and there are many that won’t make it if this shutdown persists.

If you are an athlete and need to train with weight, private personal training businesses are finally open again, as I happily mentioned earlier. There are many people who have outfitted their home gym as well. If you don’t know what you’re doing, there are many personal trainers who do online training so you don’t have to build your own programs. You can utilize the knowledge of a personal trainer from the comfort of your own home. If you have never worked with a trainer, this might be the perfect time to see what you can accomplish with professional guidance and programming, either from home or a personal training facility.

Don’t wait. You just might be able to get into the best shape of your life, even with the gym closed.

By the way, I looked it up: Some of those beards are prosthetic. Disappointing, but your new quarantine physique won’t be.