Out & About Summer 2021

You’re returning to exercise What should you aim for? Returning to Exercise Client Feelings

Our Recommendations Our guidance for you is simple; when you return to formal exercise (running, swimming, the gym, classes, …) be kind to yourself - hurting yourself on your return will only delay your path to fitness. Give yourself time to regain the form and the stamina, and then push yourself onwards- you will do much better that way. Whatever position you are in, returning, starting, delaying, or considering, you have our empathy. It has been a difficult year for all of us, even if nothing bad happened to yourselves or your families, so treat yourself well, look after yourself and your friends and your neighbours, and be positive about what your future can hold for you. Fred’s Corner Unsurprisingly Fred turned out to be a very popular contribution to our last article, so for a while we intend to share some of our experiences of him with you here. We’ve figured out that Fred wasn’t very “socialized” in his previous home - not badly treated but never made “part of the family”, so his interactions with us continue to be very cautious. We are making progress, and strangely it seems that being away for a couple of weekends has made him realize that we do add some kind of value to his existence; more than just as providers of food. Fred has started “repaying” our generosity with his own - in the form of (mostly) dead rodents and fledglings. We can’t complain (he is after all a “wild animal”) and it’s nice to know that he thinks WE need feeding. The photo above shows he has all the equipment he needs to dispatch his prey, even though he is in fact yawning, At least that is our interpretation of his behaviour; it may be that he thinks of us as weird animals that can provide him with food but don’t appear to be able to hunt ourselves, so he’s showing us how; we’ll never know ...

Now that the UK is mostly “unlocked” (fingers crossed) many of you will have returned to exercise at the gym or added exercise into your life style. This article is aimed at those who are returning to an existing regime but keep reading anyway as you might gain some insights. There are two things to consider when returning to exercise; the FACTS and the FEELINGS. Facts are the measurable things that allow you to compare your current condition with an earlier one. At Abstract Bodyworks Newbury we collect and share a LOT of facts about our clients, so we are both in a great position to know what happened to them during lockdowns, and how they are responding to proper exercise again. On the feelings front we don’t have second sight - but we do have clients who are happy to share their experiences of returning to exercise. Some Exercise Facts At Abstract Bodyworks we know a lot of things about exercise- a key one is that “if you don’t measure it you can’t improve”. That isoneof thefoundationsofourexercise protocols, and it covers every aspect of our training including the environment in our gyms, the kind of equipment and the layout we have, and (of course) a host of information about our clients’ training progress. We also know, from personal and business experience, that people don’t maintain an exercise regime for years on end- they take breaks because of life pressures, convenience, distractions, and a host of other personal reasons. Over the 20+ years we have been trainers we’ve developed some rules of thumb about how to reduce exercise levels when returning from extended periods of absence, including dropping weights by about 5% for every quarter of rest. That means some of our clients saw a 20% drop in their target weights when they recently returned after a years’ absence. That does not indicate that they are 20% weaker after a year off; in fact research shows that you only lose about 1% of your muscle each year. The much larger drop in weights allows our clients to ease back into their exercise — we push our clients to work as hard as they can — and typically they have made up the lost ground in about 10 sessions.

Derek: “We have all experienced disappointments throughout this dreadful pandemic, and missing regular supervised exercise was one of mine. The return after the 1st lockdown was frustrated by the Government failing to recognise how safe 1to1 training could be. We weren’t frustrated at Abstract Bodyworks though; they had created a Covid safe space which included waiting for the gym to be sanitised and setup, mandatory hand washing be fore exercising, face masks for both trainers and trainees; an environment that screamed “clean”. This gave me the confidence of knowing I was safe, added to which the machine weights were initially reduced to compensate for strength loss whilst in lockdown. The 2nd lockdown was frustrating too but I was not concerned about my return as I knew that Abstract Bodyworks is a safe environment, and I have been brought back to my normal exercise routine in a considerate and managed manner.” Tracey: “I was nervous about restarting proper exercise. Even though I’d had the bestintentions I hadn‘t done anything bar a daily walk during the last lockdown, so I was worried. But I needn’t have been; one of the benefits of personal 1to1 training is that they take their clients’ individual circumstances into account and, after the return consultation, reduced all of the weights appropriately; not that much though! as the exercise was still challenging and the first session was hard but achievable. I also had my body composition measured again and found that I’d maintained my weight (hurray!), I’d lost muscle (boo) - it is that kind of insight that is hard to get elsewhere. After each session the team is reviewing the weights and increasing them slowly so, fingers crossed, I’ll soon be back to where I was pre lockdown.” See advertisement opposite for details of how to book two free personal training sessions. Quote O&AQ32021

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