During the Covid-19 pandemic, many people state that while they want to be protected from the virus, they actually switch to a sedentary lifestyle. However, it should not be forgotten that one of the most important conditions of a healthy life is sports and regular exercises. Doing the most suitable exercises for the person on certain days of the week also positively affects the soul-body balance, helping to get through this process more comfortably. Associate Professor from Memorial Service Hospital Orthopedics and Traumatology Department. Dr. Hakan Sofu gave information about the things to be considered about exercise planning during the coronavirus process.
You can stay healthy and overcome stress and anxiety
Regular exercise has many different benefits on physical and mental health. It is possible to list the benefits of active and regular sports habits as follows:
- Relieves blood circulation
- It provides the ideal level of lung and heart functions.
- While the level of good cholesterol called HDL increases, it reduces the level of bad cholesterol called LDL.
- It regulates blood pressure (blood pressure) and blood sugar level.
- It increases the activity capacity with the development of muscle strength and balance.
- It minimizes the risk of chronic fatigue and burnout syndrome.
- The immune system is strengthened by regular exercise and increases the body’s resistance against diseases.
- It increases life energy by removing harmful toxins and reducing stress. Sports habit reduces the risk of depression as well as helps in the treatment of depression.
- Regular exercise, which is protective against the risk of osteoporosis in women, also helps the treatment of patients with osteoporosis.
- While the incidence of degenerative joint diseases (calcification) and cartilage disorders in people who do sports is minimized, reflexes are strengthened, and chronic neck, back and waist pains are reduced.
Choose the exercise that suits you best
Before starting a regular exercise program, it is absolutely necessary to have health checks. After determining the general health condition with medical screening tests, the appropriate sports type and exercise program are selected. In order to avoid any injury, it is important to apply a warm-up-stretching-opening period before starting the exercise as much as the importance of doing the sport in a suitable environment. The body should be prepared for sports with a warm-up-opening-stretching period for approximately 25 of the planned exercise time (for example, 15 minutes for 60 minutes of exercise). At the end of the exercise, the cooling period of the body with stretching movements should not be neglected. The rules to be followed while exercising regularly can be listed as follows:
- Before you start doing regular sports, determine the sports and exercise program that is suitable for you by having a health check.
- Eat at least 2 hours before you start exercising, so your stomach is not full during sports.
- Do not do sports with a sleepless and tired body.
- Minimize the risk of injury by playing sports in appropriate environmental conditions and on the ground.
- Before starting the sport, make sure your body is ready by doing warm-up-stretching movements.
- Do not neglect the cooling period with stretching movements after the sports program.
- Do your sports within the framework of the program you have determined together with your specialist doctor in the field.
- Increase your productivity rate by doing sports without pushing your individual limits and risking your body.
Don’t let the intense sports program cause various ailments.
Applying an intense exercise program without resting the body after sports is called ‘riding-training’. In particular, if training is characterized by repetitive loading exercises that work a specific body area, a break of approximately 48 hours between sessions is required. If you do sports in the gym, exercise 3 days a week is considered the ideal frequency. For those who have just started sports and are interested in activities that require low-level performance, there is no harm in keeping their daily training periods short and working every day of the week. People who are interested in a heavy sport such as long-distance running (half marathon or marathon), mountaineering, triathlon, and bodybuilding may encounter many different health problems if the body does not allow the resting-recovery process of the body to restore the normal physiology of the body after the activity. For example, the risk of experiencing intense muscle and protein loss, excessive weight loss, loss of balance and movement coordination due to fluid-electrolyte imbalances, falls, kidney diseases, heart rhythm and blood pressure disorders increases significantly over time. In addition to these, immune system disorders, recurrent injuries, nervousness-tension, sleep disorders and loss of motivation or poor performance in daily life may occur.
Eat right before and after exercise
It is very important to regain the water and vital minerals (such as sodium, potassium, calcium) lost during the exercise program. For this reason, you should drink plenty of water while doing sports, and take enough protein, carbohydrates and minerals when the activity ends. Another issue that should be especially considered is not to drink alcohol before and after sports. Similarly, excessive calorie loading should not be done. Energy drinks contain water, high amounts of sugar and caffeine. In addition to increasing blood sugar at an uncontrolled rate, energy drinks carry the risk of toxic effects on the heart, brain and nervous system due to the caffeine they contain. For these reasons, energy drinks are not routinely recommended. On the other hand, sports drinks produced as liquid and mineral supplements can be used.
Source: (BHA) – Beyaz News Agency
