
Ask HN: Gyms are reopening but I don't want to go back yet. Covid exercise tips? - pizza
Hello!<p>My New Year&#x27;s Resolution this year was to reach a<p>- 1 plate OHP
- 2 plate bench
- 3 plate squat
- 4 plate deadlift
- run 500 miles<p>Well, I don&#x27;t have access to weightlifting materials so my lifting goals have been made impossible to reach by the end of the year, lol. My gym is reopening but there&#x27;s no way I&#x27;ll go there right now and put my family in danger to get a workout in.<p>To make matters worse, I dove into running as a noob with too much intensity (from roughly 0 miles a week in April to two 5.5 mile runs a week at the beginning of June).. At the time of writing, I am on week 2 of recovery from shin splints, lol. I really loved running but it seems like I am going to be sticking to 1 mile runs, then 2 mile runs, etc, for a while as my body adapts to the sport.<p>So! I would really be interested in hearing about good tips from people who managed to adapt their exercise to this moment of crisis.
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giardini
Go back to the gym. Quit being fearful about Covid-19 if you're under 60
(which you likely are) and healthy (no autoimmune disorders and not diabetic)
- the odds you will catch it are low and the odds it will kill or even damage
you should you catch it are ridiculously low.

As for the shin splints, quit running until your body heals. Take up rowing,
recumbent cycling, elliptical machine or (my nemesis) the stairmaster. I favor
swimming too but it doesn't do much for your legs unless you use fins and do
kickboard work or have a helluva breastroke.

The single lesson about exercise that a young man should learn after the age
of about 22 is _do not injure yourself_. The reason is that you can no longer
heal as you did when you were younger. This only gets worse after your
mid-20s. Do not try strange exercises that your friends or gym buddies
recommend or that you see someone else doing in the gym - be they unusually
heavy weights, random martial arts moves, etc. and especially never ever do
anything based on a dare. (Instead, if you must, practice them alone on your
own terms at low speed, low weight, and low effort first).

If you _do_ injure yourself don't tough it out, take Advil. The usual dose is
200 mg twice a day but when injured (cracked bones) I've taken 800mg twice a
day for weeks (I think 3200 mg/day is max, but at (2 X 800mg)/day I was
feelin' no pain!) If you're planning an adventure where you'll be making
unusual moves (e.g., hiking, distance swimming in open water, climbing.etc.)
start taking Advil a day _before_ you start and keep taking it until you
return home.

Finally, your next year's New Year's Resolution should be to quit making New
Year's Resolutions.

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smashd
Personally, I was lucky because I was already on a "no-gym" mentality before
COVID-19. I use a full-body bodyweight routine twice a week, and once a week I
train with a sandbag. I run 6 days a week. I also train with a personal
trainer once a week. I'm 38, live in the USA and work from home as a software
developer.

Bodyweight training: I use the routine and progressions from
startbodyweight.com.

Sandbag training: I started out shouldering a 60 lb sandbag. I now shoulder a
150 lb sandbag and use an 80 lb bag for supplemental exercises (zercher
squats, clean and press). Some days just a few sets of shouldering is enough.
Making one or two bags is pretty cheap. Ross Enamait has a very good
video/ebook you can buy that covers construction, exercise ideas and
technique.

Running: I also suffered from shin pain/fatigue from running, but stopped
before they progressed to full-blown shin splints. I missed running however,
so I took the COVID period as a time to learn how to run barefoot. If you go
this route you MUST read a book on proper technique (I read the Ken Bob book)
and practice your form a lot before doing anything more than 5-minute runs.
That being said, I don't think going barefoot is a requirement for learning
how to run pain-free, I think the important bit is spending a bunch of time
focused on learning a pain-free running technique and then building up slowly.

I'm still in the volume-building phase so I measure my running by time, not
distance. I don't track my speed. I run at an intentionally "easy" pace--I
only breathe through my nose and stay focused on keeping my feet happy. Three
days are very short "recovery" runs. I add 10 minutes to my total weekly time
if/when I felt good after the previous week. I also incorporate a warm-up and
post-run routine from
[https://coachjayjohnson.com/samvidoes/](https://coachjayjohnson.com/samvidoes/).

Personal trainer: has been very valuable for double-checking technique, fixing
minor pains and adding some creative movements that I occasionally
incorporate. Shop around for a trainer that can work with your goals.

Don't forget about diet and sleep! My recovery and enthusiasm for these
activities are very directly impacted by how well I'm sleeping and eating.

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blensor
I am not sure if VR fitness is an option for you but I designed my own game
for my daily workouts.

It's mainly for the Oculus Quest due to the hand tracking but it's free and
open source

[https://vrworkout.at](https://vrworkout.at)

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caiobegotti
Anecdata: shin splints injuries are usually bad biomechanics and easy to solve
given interest on the topic. After many years without any running at all, it
took me 6 months from 0km to running 5 half-marathons (1 every 15 days at the
end of such period) without injuries. I was 35 when I started, I think. I
enjoy barefoot techniques quite a lot, but I recommend caution.

