6 Lazy Quarantine workout tips: How to start exercise after a break
2020 is being quite a weird omen. We’ve rambled through exactly half of the year now and, while being on tenterhooks with the COVID-19 pandemic, our routine has easily transitioned into a crazy one under the garb of #TheNewNormal ! And I totally get you if you’ve been thinking of how to exercise after a break.

We aren’t gasping if anyone of us is getting up at 12 noon, and wondering whether he has to make breakfast or lunch. Some of us are strutting around the house all day in boxers & loose tank tops with uncombed hair clamped into shabby buns. With Work-from-Home being for almost everybody now, erratic timings seasoned with random cups of tea/coffee, explosive tantrums, slouched postures with the laptop and obnoxious sleep cycles have crept into our new lives. Yes, we’ve seen these at some point in the last 4 to 5 months of self-quarantine or lockdown; whichever term fancies you!
I must admit that the initial phase of the COVID breakout here in India was a hopelessly depressing one for me. With everybody at home 24/7, work had to sit in the backseat for quite sometime.

And to cope up with the sudden change, I do confess doing some things that were really, really WRONG! Like:
In MARCH, I binge-watched web shows until at least 2 or 3 AM, for about 2 weeks. Result – I woke up mostly irritated, with sunken eyes, lazy all day managing to just walk for slot of 30-40 minutes. My weight remained unchanged at 62 kilos.
Although by the time APRIL set in, I had regained all my mojo and resumed my strength training workouts too, I did go astray with my diet ditching salads most of the time, having too much of chocolate (homemade, though!) and clipping my sleep time off by 3 hours in order to work on my video edits for my YouTube channel FITBEWELL RECIPES.
MAY was more organized with getting back to my regular workouts with a few things amiss. Since I was still not in rhythm with my old routine of 3 alternate Cardio days with 3 strength training ones, I considered reducing my reps along with the duration too. Automatically, the diet fell in place. That’s the beauty of working out seriously, you see! 😀
JUNE was meant to be an intentional hiatus from the blog, social media and YouTube, as well. I realized that I was running over a burnout with all of these at a time.
Now that we’ve tossed the first half of 2020 in the attic, here’s how you can brace yourself with these 9 easy ways to get into exercise after a break.
1. Toss the GUILT away!

It’s easy to start feeling demotivated to exercise once you’ve found yourself in a rut during this quarantine/lockdown period of the year.
But we all know that the pandemic is indefinitely here to stay, unlike what many of us had assumed in the 2nd quarter of the year. So, it’s important to realize that this quarantine isn’t going away too soon. And that, if you don’t start to exercise after a break, your health is pretty likely to face unwelcome consequences. More so, right now even the thought of needing to go to the doctor sends chills down the spine amid the COVID-19 breakout.
It’s known to all how regular exercise has the potential to boost your immunity against viral diseases. And while the country is soaring with the spikes in COVID positive cases by the day, a sturdy immunity would be the only armor other than masks and hygienic practises.
So, if you’ve put on even 10 kilos in these months, DON’T WORRY!
LIFE HAPPENS! Stop passing the blame to yourself. What’s important is that you take on the challenge NOW!
In my case, I’ve always done well whenever I had really difficult health goals to achieve.
2. Start with an EASY EXERCISE after a break

When you’ve been on a really long break from exercise either due to a workout injury or just being lazy for some reason, your muscles have diminished levels of strength and endurance.
Now, here’s a significant difference between people who used to do weight/strength training before going on a break & folks who used to do other forms of exercise. Like any CARDIO workout, simple Yoga, jumping jacks or walking/jogging or running.
BTW I can’t stop telling why all women must include strength training into their workouts without fail.

If you used to lift weights (resistance training) or do body weight workouts like push-ups, planks, crunches etc, you are likely to NOT notice your forearms suddenly become flabby and jiggly. Or multiple soft tiers of fat around your belly and thighs.
So, irrespective of which category of workouts you were into earlier, it’s ALWAYS recommended to start with really LIGHT WORKOUTS in order to WARM UP your body from the slumber-ish spell of absolutely no exercise.
Hence, BEGIN with simple warm up sessions involving some brisk walk, jog or running for anything between 10-15 minutes. Tracking my tiny progresses using my SMART WATCH or even the PEDOMETER Android app motivates me A LOT!
Take it slow & go!
3. Feel high on Water

That’s right!
I know a lot of us have been feeling crazy with a house full of chores all over, unending cooking sessions, home-schooling and scattered shower timings. More so, it’s raining in this part of the world and we naturally have been drinking less water than usual.
And that’s almost precisely where HALF THE PROBLEM starts!
No matter what the season, make sure that you’re drinking at least 12 glasses now.
Remaining well-hydrated reduces your tendency to slack on things and even eliminate toxins from skin tissues which are likely to have erupted owing to an overdose of junk eating over a period. I admit having had a terrible ACNE BREAKOUT around a month ago the same way.
4. Look for UNCOMPLICATED means to workout
A lot of gyms are closed. So are parks.
Or maybe you don’t have an uncluttered terrace to check in for some exercise if you were a gym rat before the pandemic.
Let me tell you that I’ve never been to the gym. Probably, because I was always happy with whatever exercise I have been doing at home.

Honestly, all you need is an area of (8 x 8) SQ FEET to reserve as your workout ‘room’ at home or the terrace. So it doesn’t even matter if you live in a poky apartment or PG. Whether it is about doing push-up reps, planks, weight training exercises, burpees, jacks etc, most of these do not require you to have spacious places.
Sound sorted, don’t we?
If you have a pair of dumbells, it’s great to re-start with (remember to begin with smaller weights, even if you were used to 5kg+ weights before, in order to PREVENT injury/soreness).
If you don’t, NO PROBLEMS! Start with anything that makes you feel pumped. Walk, run or skip the rope! Go ahead with body weight exercises. Trust me, all of these work to give you results when done consistently over a period of time.
5. Measure & Document

Nothing motivates us better than BEFORE-AFTER transformation pictures & videos. Am I wrong? 😀
So, before you kick start & refocus your fitness all over again in this quarantine, record your measurements and weight. Also track your progress in terms of the number of steps, speed and body stats as you go.
Do NOT feel tempted to weight yourself more than ONCE in a week. A lot of factors affect your weight on a daily basis that cannot be considered as a significant change within a week’s time. Some of them are sleep timings, dinner time, your menstrual cycle and water retention.
Also, you’re likely to notice ZERO change on the weighing scale but a lot feels different when you wear a few clothes after a really long time.
Well, THAT IS PROGRESS! And a really good sign that you’re on track.
6. Cut down (on Junk)

Like I always say, no amount of exercise can defeat a diet that’s high on junk, refined food and alcohol.
Steer away from these ASAP and re-organize your pantry again. Just the way you had them sorted before you stocked your house up with any random snack that you had to grab from the grocery stores.
It’s worth investing in some time to prepare some quick & tasty snacks at home which will be naturally low on sodium & refined sugar.
A lot of us have been refraining from ordering food online, although the UNLOCK process has initiated them to operate like before. And to kill the monotony of taste and menu, trying new recipes has been part of our ‘New Normal’ too.
Well, I just can’t tell how excited I am to share my recipes with you, here & on my YouTube channel as well. 😀 I curate my recipes with healthy substitutes to refined ingredients and try to bring out stuff that can be savored without guilt.
So, are you ready to FINALLY chose yourself before the rest of the house & family in this self-quarantine & break into a sweat all over again?
I’d be sending out some more motivation in my newsletter too. So stay tuned, fella! 🙂
Helpful post. I am quite a lazy person but after reading your post, I am feeling inspired to do some exercise.
I absolutely loved your point about strength training being important for women and how one should ease into a routine no matter how active they were before. It will help to prevent injuries. Lockdown has been hard but glad you have found your mojo
I only just started a regular exercise routine a little before the lockdown, so I’ve been playing around with short and quick exercises. Strenght training requires equipment doesn’t it? I’m not confident enough to try things on my own yet. Thanks for this motivating post, though. It inspires me to keep going. ?
Building strength is so important. I wish I had exercised a lot more in my younger days, but it’s never too late to start.
A great post, liked the way you summed up the lockdown, and focused on building strength, drinking water, measure and document. I made it a point to keep a glass of water and the carafe infront of me while working on the computer. Looking at it helped