Kelly Athanasopoulos says she was feeling “lethargic and blobby” after a few months of staying home due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“When this all started I didn’t do anything for months,” the 38-year-old mother of three says.
Kelly was playing netball once a week before coronavirus arrived, but then the season was cancelled and with prolonged restrictions in Victoria, she found herself at home a lot.
While it can be hard to exercise regularly at the best of times, this year has seen gyms close or restrict their hours, community sport put on hold, and incidental exercise disappear for those working from home.
“It’s no fault of anyone other than this unfortunate situation we’re in,” says Damian Raper, chair of the Australian Physiotherapy Association’s sports and exercise group.
But if you’ve been inactive for a while, getting moving again can lead to injuries.
Here are some tips from Mr Raper and Meredith Woolsey, an accredited exercise physiologist, to help you get going without hurting yourself.
1. Start slow and gentle, build up gradually
The most common mistake people make when they start exercising after any amount of time off is to go too hard too soon, Mr Raper says.
Ms Woolsey says not only are you more likely to hurt your body by pushing it too hard, you’re also more likely to get disheartened.
“Not only do they increase [your] chance of injury, but you also inevitably have feelings of guilt and shame and feeling quite terrible about yourself [for failing],” she says.
Published by the ABC to read more open the attached link https://www.abc.net.au/life/how-to-return-to-exercise-without-injuring-yourself/12688260