Hey friends, today I want to share 3 strategies for how to best filter through the free workouts that are currently flooding the interwebz so that you can continue your fitness journey that’s been displaced by COVID-19.

Let’s start by going back in time to February 12th, when MFF’s very own Tim Landicho tweeted:

https://twitter.com/timlandicho/status/1227632644931743745

I’m not sure if Tim knew what was about to hit us here in NYC when he first wrote that, but my guess is that we’re all in the same boat of trying to figure out what the hell to do for fitness right now.  Most gyms are scrambling to figure out their online offerings, and coaches like myself are filling social media with as many options as possible.

Today’s advice comes in three parts: Remember that fitness isn’t pass fail, follow workouts that most resemble what you’ve been doing, and then look for opportunities to intentionally fill in your weaknesses.

Remember That Fitness Isn’t Pass Fail.

Let’s start with perhaps the most important point: Fitness Is Not Pass Fail. We can choose if these world events are a bump in the road, a detour – or an impassable road block. Earlier this week I saw this post from @BodyPosiPanda on Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Megan Jayne Crabbe 🐼 (@meganjaynecrabbe)

Allow yourself the vulnerability to acknowledge this reality that we’re not on our A-game right now and that this is okay. Fitness isn’t pass/fail, this will not make-or-break what you’re doing, and it’s okay for us to let some parts of our routine go without letting everything go. Your gym is closed and you’re being asked to stay home as much as possible – and that’s a great opportunity for us to figure out how to make the most out of this situation that we’re all in together.

Follow Workouts That Most Resemble What You’ve Been Doing.

My second piece of advice for you is to follow workouts that most resemble what you’ve been doing. This is a tip I picked up yesterday from Katie St. Clair as we recorded an episode of the Barbell Mesearch podcast with Katie, Rich Thaw, Dean Guedo and myself. Sure, everyone’s been displaced from our fitness facilities, and that provides a great opportunity to double down on accountability to our fitness standards. Follow the same general format and structure that you’ve been using. Use the same warm-up, then do your core and power work, try to keep your main lifts as much as possible, and then move on to your accessory or conditioning work to finish things off.

If you’ve been training, continue training. In the world of #SeriousFitness, there is a difference between exercising and training. Exercising is about checking off your daily workout, but the transition from exercising to training is about intentional and meaningful preparation for a specific goal. Races and other competitive events have been cancelled, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be mindful and meticulous about minimizing the impact that these disturbances have on our overall consistency.  Remember that when it comes to health, fitness, or performance, consistency over longer timelines is always more important than what happens on shorter timelines.

Look for opportunities to intentionally fill in your weaknesses.

My third piece of advice for you is this: Look for opportunities to work on your weaknesses. During our podcast yesterday, Katie talked about how this massive disruption in equipment access can actually be a great science experiment if we as coaches reframe the benefits of the situation rather than highlighting the limitations of it.

Dean noted that while load is not a factor this is a great opportunity to double down on positional work, end range positions, for exploring isometric holds and moving at specific tempos. Yes, on a longer timeline, load is a factor, but right now we collectively have a great opportunity to slow down, refine our movement and resist using extension strategies, and learn how to better take care of our bodies if our typical training is beating us up.

If you’re looking for a catch-all way to improve how you move, strengthen a variety of tissues, and make things feel harder, explore really slow tempos and isometrics – and don’t worry, I’ll provide some details for this in a future video!

Alright, so as you can tell I’m really excited to entertain the duality that we are all obviously trying to adapt our exercise to an environment that currently feels suboptimal, but that with the right attitude and education, we’re fully prepared for more progress. Fitness isn’t pass/fail, so we can best continue on our paths by following a program similar to what you’ve been working on, and know that this is a perfect time to double down on slowing down and moving well so that we’re even better prepared for heavy lifting when the gyms open back up.

If you’d like to listen to the conversation that I had with Katie, Rich, and Dean about making the most out of your home workouts, you can find it on the podcast platform of your choice by clicking this massive link!

Okay friends, that’s it for this episode of HGTV, thanks for joining me! I’ll be posting as much content as I can create to help you out in the coming weeks and months, so please leave a comment or ask a question if I can help in any way.  As always, you can watch these words on Instagram by clicking here. Cheers!