This Is How I Make Lockdown to be Health Improvement Time

Maybe you don’t know, but less than one in five Australians can reach 10,000 steps a day, and during the COVID 19, it seems more impossible for many people to achieve this goal.

But I get it! And it helps me to lose 2 kgs of belly fat while increase 1,5 kg of muscles in just 3 months

And I write this story to share with you the strategy that I used to complete this challenge every single day in lockdown time that you can apply for yourself immediately too.

Six months — Or probably can be more for Melbourne, where I live to be lockdown because of COVID 19. After the new restriction rules were applied, all areas in this most liveable city were used to celebrate hundreds of events and activities per week become so quiet now.

People are stuck at home and just can go out for 4 essential reasons. It is not an easy time for me or anyone else who lives in this city at this moment. But luckily, we still can go out for exercise.

However, the nervous feeling about the coronavirus makes many people afraid to go out to do exercise, as many of my friends lock themselves in the home for months and just go out to buy some foods or for necessary reasons.

Many of them start to be more toxic, grumpy and face issues related to physical and mental healths because of staying home too long.

I don’t say that I encourage people to go out more in this lockdown time for entertainment reasons or chill out. But as the government still encourages people to do exercise and allow us to go out for this purpose.

I believe that everyone should take this opportunity to develop physical health instead of feeling upset and laziness.

For me, I keep trying to reach 10,000 steps every single day during the lockdown time. But I also make sure to protect myself carefully by having my own strategies to achieve this daily goal.

1. Health Improvement Time Tip: Keep workout but always wear the mask when going outside

This is compulsory for me when I do my workout outside. Although I can do exercises at home, the feeling of sticking at home all day is very terrible. When you just go around your bedroom, toilet, and kitchen, then you also stay in your room for doing exercise.

It makes me feel like I’m being in prison. So I try to spend some time running outside to enjoy the environment as well as keep fit.

And wearing the mask makes me feel safer when running, although it is a little bit inconvenient. But it can make sure that I will not get risks when running in the parks near my home where also have many people come here to work out.

So if you want to workout, and still feel safe, always wear your mask.

At the first lockdown in Melbourne, I hear a lot of people say that don’t wear marks if you feel OK. And in the public areas such as my University, tram, public transportations,…all these places don’t recommend people to wear the mask in the first lockdown.

But in Vietnam, my hometown, the restriction is very strict when the COVID 19 just starts. It means that everyone needs to wear a mask, and it becomes compulsory for months.

So, if you also want to run outside as I did during this lockdown time, and make yourself feel safe and avoid the risk, make sure to have your own mask all the time.

2. Health Improvement Time Tip: Short walking daily

I split the time to go out for short walking several times a day

If the COVID 19 doesn’t happen, the steps that I need to walk to the office, buy coffee, and hang out with friends already can reach 10,000 steps or even more.

But from the time this pandemic happens, it makes everything change, and I can’t do anything as usual. This is also very hard if I just run one time a day and reach 10,000 steps.

It means nearly 6km. It’s too much for me.

So normally, I just run for 2 to 3 km during my workout time and spend the rest of two or three km walking around my neighborhood during the day.

I did it when having a rest after every one hour focused on working. It helps me to relax my mind after concentrating time on doing my work.

Just spend around 5 to 10 minutes walking around my surrounding areas, so I can complete around 500 to 700 steps each time like this.

During a day, I normally have 7 or 8 times walking like that, so I can complete around 4500 to 6000 steps easily by doing this way. And one important thing is I always wear the mask when I go out, although I just go alone and the street is super quiet with just a few people.

3. Health Improvement Time Tip: Early morning for a fresh start

Let wake up early to start your day. For a free and fresh morning to boost your mood and inspire yourself to do things.

I mainly do exercise in the early morning.

Maybe many of you can think that why I am so brave or could be a little bit crazy to workout in this environment when Melbourne every day has from 400 to 700+new cases daily.

Actually, I am also very afraid about it and try my best to keep my healthy workout habit while keep distance from other people. So I mainly do exercise in the early morning, before the sun rises, around 5 or 6 am.

This is a great time for a morning bird like me, I have a lot of energy and feel fresh to work out while don’t have many people on the street or in the park.

But if you go a little bit later, around 8–10 am or 5–7 p.m, the parks nearby my houses look like prepare to have a festival with hundreds of people running, doing exercises there, even now, in the middle of the pandemic.

So I try my best to avoid workout at this time by trying to wake up a little bit earlier and go alone to do exercise there.

And the fresh feelings in the morning is so great. It makes me feel very motivated to workout on myself.

And these are the ways how I keep my promise to have a healthy body during this pandemic time when around 5 million people are stuck at home in Melbourne now.

A lot of mental health and physical health issues happen because people can’t go out to enjoy life and are limited to catching up with each other. But good physical health will help to boost your mental health, this is a precious lesson I learned during the time I studied my master of trainer in Australia.

When you have a fit and healthy body, you can easily get over the mental issue and feel fresher about your life and the things surrounding you. And keep walking 10,000 steps every day is my healthy choice during this pandemic time, how about you?

Note:

This is an old blog that I wrote on Medium in 2020 when I was stuck in Melbourne during the first lock-down. Therefore, some numbers here will be changed, but the vibe of it is still the same!

If you want to read more about personal development topics, let check it out at “Wiki Personal Development”.