Has anyone got fitter since the lockdown?

antimatterx

Has anyone got fitter since the lockdown? I joined Flyefit in Sep 2018 and I had periods where I was in good shape, but I was never consistent. Going to a gym after work wasn't fun, and taking 3 hours out of my weekend to go wasn't exacting great sounding.

We have a set of dumbells at home, so since lockdown I've been lifting 5 days a week using dumbells, furniture, and body weight. I've lost about 1 stone since, and I'm probably in the best shape of my life.

WFH has helped massively, as I have so much time. Covid has been amazing for me fitness wise. Anyone else?

I've cancelled my gym membership, as I won't be near it for the rest of the year, but as long as working out at home is showing results I'm not going back.

mirrorwall14

Nope. No childcare and work meant I was permanently exhausted. I ate my stress and hadn’t the energy to work out.

Finally getting it together this last week but have a lot of work to get back to where I was

is_that_so

Only in the last three weeks since the gyms reopened!

My dad: What time is it?
Me: Looks at watch, "Its 7.65. No wait, thats how many steps I did today".

Short answer. No. Not been for a swim or lifted anything heavier than a pint bottle since February. Only put on 1 pound so far, but there is no way I got fitter.

Quantum Erasure

Wouldn't say I'm any fitter, but I've lost over a stone by cutting back on the beer, so that's nice

crisco10

Definitely. Enjoy running, but lockdown has given me consistency to get out 5 or 6 times a week. Am now the fastest and fittest that I have been (certainly if my times are anything to go by).

rovers_runner

is_that_so wrote: »

Only in the last three weeks since the gyms reopened!

Wow, lockdown was wasted on you, you do know you can cancel the direct debit?
Did you not use the time as an opportunity to think outside the box?

is_that_so

rovers_runner wrote: »

Wow, lockdown was wasted on you, you do know you can cancel the direct debit?
Did you not use the time as an opportunity to think outside the box?

On an annual plan and they paused it so no boxes needed.

rovers_runner

is_that_so wrote: »

On an annual plan and they paused it so no boxes needed.

Would have thought gyms would be the last place people would want to go at a time like this.

Couldn't you just set up a load of mirrors in the garden if you are that keen to look at yourself working up a sweat?

tayto lover

Playing more golf but eating more rubbish, so the answer is No.
Is there any way you can eat yourself fitter?

FlubberJones

No, I used a variety of methods in an attempt to maintain any strength, muscle or fitness... resistance bands (weights were rarer that unobtanium), body weight exercises, walking, tabata, yoga.... and a coupe of others and none worked. My physique was made lifting weights and I simply could not replicate it. I lost weight but it was muscle and in the end gained weight (not much but enough for me to see) in fat on my stomach.... The gym beckons next week, it will be very tough but I'm looking forward to it like its a christmas day.

nedkelly123

Yep gave up smoking after 22 years and doing 2 -3 X 8Km walks/ jogs a week
watching what i eat too with some intermittant fasting and 5kg fell off in 6 weeks !!

is_that_so

rovers_runner wrote: »

Would have thought gyms would be the last place people would want to go at a time like this.

Couldn't you just set up a load of mirrors in the garden if you are that keen to look at yourself working up a sweat?

Very limited numbers, 60-90m sessions, booking app, windows open, lots of cleaning will do it.
Nah, not part of the Insta body cohort, most people aren't. Mirrors are for form only otherwise best avoided!

Kamu

Cardiovascularly I've gotten fitter, as I took up running and was running two 5k's and one 10k a week. However I am not particularly fond of running.

Also, I must have been eating a hell of a lot more as I gained a stone during the lockdown.

Strength wise, I lost about 40% I say. Though I am recovering that steadily.

I've been back everyday at the gym the week they opened. I missed it as weightlifting is definitely my exercise of choice.

I know the importance of cardio though, and I have been swimming, running or cycling on my off days.

I tried home workouts, but I have no equipment and not a lot of space, so it is a non-runner for me.

Oink

I did not have a nervous breakdown, it was quite a work-out dodging that!
I’ll get right on to the exercise as soon as I manage 2 decent nights’ sleep in a row...

is_that_so

FlubberJones wrote: »

No, I used a variety of methods in an attempt to maintain any strength, muscle or fitness... resistance bands (weights were rarer that unobtanium), body weight exercises, walking, tabata, yoga.... and a coupe of others and none worked. My physique was made lifting weights and I simply could not replicate it. I lost weight but it was muscle and in the end gained weight (not much but enough for me to see) in fat on my stomach.... The gym beckons next week, it will be very tough but I'm looking forward to it like its a christmas day.

It really is like that the first day!

Jim Root

Bought a bike, cycle with the kids in the evening, lost a stone, happy days.

Gamer Bhoy 89

Nope. I put on a whole stone, and it was wonderful.

Back at work now.

seamus

Nope. Lost it considerably. Previously I'd be in the gym or out for a run four days out of five - during lunchtime. Now working from home, I can't justify just popping out for a run in the middle of the day leaving my wife to mind the kids. Even getting up early to go out is a no-go because I stay up late giving the baby the nighttime feed.

But we do have a new baby, so I was expecting to throttle back on exercise for six months or so. Not commuting to work by bike was unexpected, and has been a serious part of my fitness loss. I've gotten so stiff now that I've injured myself a couple of times.

But I'm slowly getting back to it, making time in the week. I'll be WFH indefinitely so I have to rearrange the whole routine. Gym membership will be cancelled. Kids back to school will help a lot though. Much easier to justify a mid-morning run when you're not leaving a partner minding a whole house full of kids.

listermint

Definitely,

Lost 12 Kilo's, can now run 10k without losing my ****. Times improving all the time. Set a marker in the sand about 10 week ago that i was just taking the mick with over indulgence. So parked it.

Feeling fitter right now than id say i have felt in 10 years.

Goal is to tighten it up, and then just maintain it that way with regular but not ver bearing exercise

partyguinness

Yeah. Lost 10lbs and was running (x5 per week) 260km per month. In fact yesterday I had to go clothes shopping for new trousers. Down to 30 inch waist.

Although I was at work every single day (9-5) rather than 'locked down', no traffic, no meetings, no suit, no school runs, wife not working so no restrictions on my running, plenty of time to make propoer healthy lunches, no drinking whatsoever, commute down to 15 mins as opposed to 45 mins.

I had a great lockdown.

On the downside: wife has not cash so I have had to pay for everything including 100% mortgage for the past 4 months.

Plus I have not had a single day off in 2020 for holiday..am self employed.

jester77

Yip, have a gym my basement. Put the time I would normally travel in and out to work to good use. Changed programs in March as I had more time I could use, put on some good mass since then.

partyguinness

I defo lost some muscle mass so need to get back strength training.

theteal

Yup. It also ties into a NY resolution which is not usually my thing but I did put it into a thread here earlier in the year so I have to stick to it. I would also caveat it with stating that not long ago I was in the least fit state of my life - hit 12.5 stone :eek:

Anyway, thanks to lockdown I've been hitting my little makeshift gym in the garage almost every lunchtime. That's all fine but the best bit is that the resolution was to get back on the football field this year (bad injury a few years ago at the age of 34 looked to have taken the retirement decision out of my hands) and now that lockdown has eased, I've been training with the local vets team for the last few weeks. The limbs have been sore after each session but the main thing is that the knee remains solid - I've also made a decent impression on the manager while still being very rusty.

Our first friendly game is on the 22nd of Aug and I have every intention of bossing that midfield like days of yore.

sporina

no changes in my wt but don't feel as fit as no gym and hadn't been hiking for a few months.. but loads i know have lost wt - without that being their objective - they have just been walking more and some started running (for something to do and or as a way to deal with stress etc)

Ohmeha

No. WFH stressing me out with extra workload on a restrictive laptop then snacking more hasn't helped. Then an hour day lost of walking when I would be walking to/from work hasn't helped either. Obviously social distancing doesn't help and the extra football on the TV. Got out for two long walks past two days so there's hope!

Flyer1

Now at the fittest I have been for over 10 years - bought a road bike - cycling circa 70-80kms 4/5 times a week - delira.

osarusan

I've always cycled a bit, but I've cycled for an hour a day, 5 days a week since April. More than 1800km now. Lost about 3 kilos.

Recently I did one of the climbs I'd done a few times before (but not since April) and was amazed at how much easier it was, and how much faster Strava told me it was.

If I wasn't pouring whiskey down my throat regularly (and right now) I'd be in really great shape.

rob316

I hate doing weights or cardio if it's not part of a class. I wrestle, roll and spar in an MMA gym, that was closed for 5 months so I didn't do a tap of exercise then. All open again and restarting from a very low fitness base and finding it very tough but I'll get there again.

Pretzill

I have been walking every morning since the end of April. I feel much fitter for it. It sets me up for the day.

What Username Guidelines

I messed up big time.

The day of Leo’s stay at home speech I had hit my weight loss goal of 100lbs. All through walking/running/cycling to work. Ended up WFH and still am. Early days of lockdown effected my anxiety and mental health so didn’t get out exercising much and fell into a routine of working, snacking, baking with kid, and general laziness and put up 22lbs which I’m working off again now. Running is harder again, I’d run 10-12km before and I struggled to hit even 4km last week but I know I just need to work back to it.

The last 3 pounds to get to the 100 goal were excruciatingly difficult, it took weeks.. Can’t believe I just threw them away so quickly, and then some...

But I’ve done it before and will do it again. I’m glad it’s only 22 and not 100 again!

timsey tiger

What Username Guidelines wrote: »

I messed up big time.

The day of Leo’s stay at home speech I had hit my weight loss goal of 100lbs. All through walking/running/cycling to work. Ended up WFH and still am. Early days of lockdown effected my anxiety and mental health so didn’t get out exercising much and fell into a routine of working, snacking, baking with kid, and general laziness and put up 22lbs which I’m working off again now. Running is harder again, I’d run 10-12km before and I struggled to hit even 4km last week but I know I just need to work back to it.

The last 3 pounds to get to the 100 goal were excruciatingly difficult, it took weeks.. Can’t believe I just threw them away so quickly, and then some...

But I’ve done it before and will do it again. I’m glad it’s only 22 and not 100 again!

You've been there before it will be a lot easier this time, once you get over the initial shock.

Rodin

Absolutely.
Was so much easier to get fit during lockdown. Weather was glorious too.

Getting less exercise in now work back to normal.

pwurple

Nope. Children at home all the time , and the work bumpf has ramped up my hours. It's not work from home, it's more like Live At Work.

Had cheese on toast there, very late dinner-substitute and am headed straight to bed. Healthy , nope. I haven't put on weight, but certainly didn't lose any either. Have probably replaced muscle with fat and cardiovascular has no doubt depleted with being so sedentary.

People's talk of their "free time" genuinely irritates me nowadays.

Strumms

Fitter for sure... I do miss the gym because i like the variety of equipment and my trainer but I’ve so much time to kill and I enjoy exercising.

I keep an online exercise diary that I send to my trainer at the end of the week...

Todays entry for instance :

5.5km walking.. my pedometer measures distance, steps and calories that I’d have burned, I went for a 2.2km walk to the park and once around it and did 3.3 kms just walking round the house.

6 kms on my exercise bike... resistance 12... time...22 minutes.

I’m not obsessed with beating it or going better as I once was at the beginning. Enough is good enough.

My mother is doing the same, well minus a bike and she’s kicking ass.

_Kaiser_

No fitter but the lack of a 2/3 hour commute every day and late home means I am eating and sleeping better rather than late evening snacking or takeaways because I was too tired to make something better.

Have definitely lost weight too.

didn't train since March........ first night back last night. 20 pull ups, 20 chin ups and dips was a struggle, was able to do weighed ones handy enough up to March.
Was hoping to get my 5km time down over the time off from the gym but that didn't go to plan either.

didn't gain much weight (maybe 2 pounds) but fitness is bad compared to what it was.

galvo_clare

antimatterx wrote: »

Has anyone got fitter since the lockdown? I joined Flyefit in Sep 2018 and I had periods where I was in good shape, but I was never consistent. Going to a gym after work wasn't fun, and taking 3

I’ve been cycling into work every day on my Brompton and using that almost exclusively for tipping around. I’ve rarely driven over the last few months except at the weekend.
I’ve lost about another half stone since my gym closed. Gearing up for 100k on a proper road bike by September. Legs and lungs are in great shape so it’s just to get my body used to spending that long on a bike.

lulublue22

No but I did get fatter does that count ? not even joking need to lose about 10lbs 🀪

radiata

I've lost 5 or 6 pounds. I've really cut down on alcohol, have had about 6 cans in 3 or 4 months. I've also started eating a lot healthier, mainly vegetables as doing a lot of gardening although they don't fill me.
However, I've lost any bit of muscle I had and not as toned as I was when heavier and running times haven't improved. Haven't been doing any weights at all

Wildly Boaring

Yep

I'm flying to be honest.
Lockdown kickstarted me. I decided once the building sites closed that I would do some form of excercise daily.
Now that the sites are open I'm back to my usual 7,000 to 10,000 steps daily before any excercise.
I take 2 rest evenings a week. Otherwise get in a run/cycle/weights

Running
My fastest ever 5k, 10k 15k. Did my second ever half marathon

Cycling
Funnily i'm probably not at my best climbing, but shorter spins or flat spins..flying

Weights - have some at home and a chinup bar
OK. Hadn't gone to gym in 3 years - now back to a reasonable level in particular on wide chins and pushups


Down about 7kg since Feb, but i was carrying some winter timber, prob 2 lighter than last summer (and doing no weights last year).
(Say 100kg in Feb)

biko

When the gyms closed I started cutting down on calorie intake so don't think I have gained very much.
Also outdoor runs and long walks in the woods with the family helps.
I'm less fit, but not as bad as I had initially feared.

FionnK86

In Feb I went from 78 to 73kg because i'd been weightlifting and was unhappy with belly. However I'd quite a lot of muscle mass for my weight.

I dropped to 71kg in March/April which was purely muscle mass reduction as I'd no machines at home which I'd usually have for muscle building at gym and I was also running.

April/May/June has been the unhealthiest period of my life. I'd abandoned running, started drinking a lot more on weekends and eating sh1te and not preparing meals. Although I'm working from home and have more time and even some newly purchased equipment, I've found the motivation to exercise has gone.

Start of this month, I've kickstarted back into it, slowly but surely. Mainly because I've been getting health problems recently and think immune system is affected by the diet and lack of exercise. I had a go at bench presses and bicep curls last week and only over them now. I think this lockdown is going to last a long long time so by the end of it I'm aiming to be at the fittest stage of my life.

bb1234567

For the first time in my life I'm consistently exercising everyday. Resistance exercise was a bit less successful as I usually had to be creative with ways of lifting common household objects, they are generally not nearly heavy enough to build muscle so not much progress in that regard but it was more for maintenance of existing muscle than anything else.

But my cardiovascular fitness has really improved, running 5km every single day now almost without exception, and running that distance with relative ease now after so much practice. Absolutely love it, sleep amazing every night after my run, and it really clears my mind of any stressful crap circulating in my head earlier in the day. Very happy with myself and hope I keep it up forever now if I can.

Itssoeasy

I have lost a stone and I can't remember the last time I weighed this much. In fairness I'd be losing weight slowly over the past three years.

iguana

Not really. I quite likely had what’s being called Longtail Covid, with a respiratory virus from mid-March to early April and then post-viral inflammation in my chest and around my right lung and esophageal inflammation. I went from being very fit, lean and muscular to not being able to catch my breath on a slow walk to the kitchen for about 14 weeks. I lost a lot of muscle and gained fat.

I’ve been able to exercise without relapse since the start of July. But I still have costochondritis so need to be careful about rebuilding my strength. It’ll probably be the end of August before I’m back to where I was.

On the other hand I have become a little more flexible especially in the upper back as I’ve been working to break the habit I developed of tensing on a deep breath, which has helped me increase my flexibility there more than it has been in decades.

ChikiChiki

No, was in decent shape before. Now I have manboobs and a jiggle in the belly that I never had before.

Did about 15000 steps a day around town before lockdown in a working day which went down to circa average 1500 during lockdown.

yosemitesam1

My back is f**ked since not being able to keep swimming and sauna up. Hopefully get on top of things again over next 6 months

RandomViewer

Have gotten fat, need to stop eating

owlbethere

The early days of the virus emerging in Ireland, I was very worried and I didn't like the news. There was a box of aldi jaffa cakes and I opened the box to have 2 of them. Only I didn't stop at two. I scoffed the whole lot of them. I never did that before, using a whole entire packet of biscuits as a comfort food. Biscuits and ****e used to feature heavily in my diet but never a pack of them in one sitting.

Thankfully I quickly snapped out of that and I cleaned up the diet and started walking more. Thankfully the lockdown coincided with a beautiful spring. I started exercising more too. I have a 2 stone weight loss since March. Unfortunately fell off the wagon over the past 2 weeks. I worked so hard since March but stress is a pack of sh1t.

I'm loving the new way by the way. Of clean eating and exercising. I'm bursting with energy but unfortunately over the past fortnight there is a lot of stress.

Gods Gift

Yes.
I was a 8
Now I’m a 9.