Week 1 COVID-19 Update at 40 Plus Personal Training
I just wanted to give a quick update on how things are going, after 1 week of being re-opened from the stay at home mandate.
Luckily in my business as a personal trainer, with my own private gym, things haven’t changed all that much.
I wear a mask, clean everything after every session, vacuum as much as possible (no idea if it helps but why not), keep both doors open for airflow. Beyond that its just kind of weird.
The only real change, currently, is getting rid of my groups that aren’t related, but hopefully the expansion will allow that to happen soon.
Here’s a little video, to provide a visual. Sorry for the shaky camera…
COVID-19, Social Distancing, Gyms and Personal Training in Eugene, Oregon
The Beginning of COVID-19 and Gym Closures in Eugene, Oregon
In the middle of March 2020 the world was turning into a weird and confusing place. COVID-19 had spread through China, was spreading through Europe and beginning to start its spread through the United States.
COVID-19 and Gym Closures
There was a very eerie feeling going on, to say the least. Without having all the information and not wanting to harm any of my clients, I shut down 40 Plus Personal Training on Thursday March 19th.
Little did I know, four days later, nearly the entire state of Oregon, and later the United States would shut down.
Life had just turned into an “is this real?” moment. I’m very lucky and thankful that my family and friends are all healthy, and am very thankful we got to have a “soft quarantine” in Eugene, Oregon.
I can’t imagine what it must have been like in China, Italy, NYC and many other places around the world.
None of us had any idea of what the world was going to look like. So it was time to buckle down, and stay safe.
But what was going to happen to 40 Plus Personal Training, what would the entire fitness industry look like?
Social Distancing and the Rise of Online Personal Training
Social Distancing and the Rise of Online Personal Training
Nearly the entire world was dealing with some form of stay at home order, leaving most industries struggling to figure out what to do next.
Big gyms, small gyms, yoga studios, personal training studios, spin classes, and nearly every other form of exercise based business was frantically trying to build there own virtual fitness systems.
These systems worked to keep millions of people safe and active from their own homes.
I’m sure millions of people worldwide found out they liked working out from home, well millions more found out they did not.
Personally I created a few different programs to keep my 40 Plus Personal Training clients active.
Finally, I began building a much more detailed program for current 40 Plus Personal Training clients and have begun to slowly open it up to everyone else.
I was getting excited, that I have finally created an online personal training business, that I have wanted to do for literally 15 years.
And BOOM. May 15th, gyms in Lane County are allowed to open.
The Re-Opening of Gyms and Personal Training in Eugene, Oregon
I spent the entire weekend calling, texting, and emailing my 40 Plus Personal Training clients.
To my surprise over 80% of my clients were ready to return!
I was honestly scared 40 Plus Personal Training was going to be done.
Yeah, I had already built an online personal training program, that will hopefully turn into the real deal, eventually.
But, I was already looking into plans B, and C.
40 Plus Personal Training is obviously not out of the woods yet, well because nobody in the world is. But over 80%, that is AWESOME!
Thank you everyone!
GYM SAFETY AND THE PERSONAL TRAINING ADVANTAGE
Now that I knew the vast majority of my clients where ready to come back, it was time to deliver great workouts again, and more importantly keep them safe.
After reading the guidelines for gyms to be reopened, I was happy to see that nearly everything was already being done at 40 Plus Personal Training.
Keep my distance, wear masks and gloves, clean handles and dumbbells after every session, and we should be ok.
I will say I’m very glad that 40 Plus Personal Training is a small private personal training studio, not a huge gym, I don’t know how they are going to be able to do it.
COVID-19 Procedure at 40 Plus Personal Training
1 client, or 1 couple per session, in a 750 square foot facility
Bring your own towel to lay on benches, for added protection.
Bring your own yoga mat, sorry I won’t be providing them for the time being.
Bringing your own masks and gloves is recommended.
I will be wearing a mask and gloves for your protection.
You will have ALL THE EQUIPMENT TO YOURSELF.
Clean benches, handles, and dumbbells after every session.
Vaccuum after every session.
If you are feeling unsure about going back to your big gym, but still want to workout, take advantage of the personal training advantage.
Eugene, Oregon has recently started phase 1 of our reopening of the economy.
I will be opening my gym back up tomorrow.
Naturally, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what I’m going to do to keep my clients as safe as possible.
So first I will share the obvious things with you.
Wear gloves, I found them at Walgreens
Keep as much distance as possible
Bring your own water bottle.
Wear a mask if you can handle it.
Go during non peak hours, if possible.
Clean, clean, clean, clean, and clean some more.
Luckily for me, I run a personal training studio that will never have more than two people (plus me) at a time. So i naturally keep more of a distance and can easily clean.
Now a few of the less obvious things.
bring your own gym mats
bring an oversized towel to lay down on any benches you use.
Continuous Effort Circuit Training is where safety meets results. Especially with older more injury prone adults.
Continuous Effort Circuit Training is a complicated name, for a simple exercise theory, of course made complicated.
Honestly I’ve probably spent the last 20 years of my life developing my Continuous Effort Circuit Training routines, but have fully made it my business over the last 7 years.
Essentially Continuous Effort Circuit Training is taking a group of exercises that, by themselves, aren’t overly challenging. Group them together with no rest and you have a Continuous Effort Circuit that is both safe and at times brutal.
Add in Constant Variety and you have a nearly never ending supply of Continuous Effort Circuits.
In the video series below I will give you an example of a Continuous Effort Leg Series. Enjoy 🙂
There are endless ways to add modifications and variety to bodyweight exercises.
Bodyweight exercises provide a feeling of accomplishment that a lot of other exercises don’t provide. There is just a cool feeling about controlling your own body.
The one drawback of bodyweight training, is sometimes you don’t know where to start, and can’t control your body.
The goods news is, you can always improve, and I’m here to help you.
Bodyweight exercises for seniors, aren’t always simple, but where there is a will there is a way.
Check out the Beginner Bodyweight Workout for Seniors, that I have provided below.
Better yet, do them right now. You don’t need any equipment (except something to sit on, and something sturdy to grab onto) you will feel better immediately, and have more energy.
There is something uniquely cool about push ups, both loved and hated at the same time. Everyone knows what “give me twenty” means.
Somehow push ups routinely become party tricks, and great ways to impress your kids and grandkids.
But where to start, most of my clients come in, barely being able to do 5 push ups, if they can do any. Within two or three months, they are doing 20, and many are getting into the 30 straight range.
I’ve even had several 70 year old women do 50 straight push ups. That is cool! 🙂
If you can do even a few push ups from the floor, start on the floor, and max out your reps every time. You will be amazed at how much you improve.
Don’t worry about perfect form, just find a range of motion that doesn’t hurt your joints. I promise, it will get better.
If you can’t yet do them from the floor, then watch the videos below. I have provided several ways to do push ups from an incline, to make it easier. And one at the end to make push ups harder.
Please enjoy Push Ups for Seniors. If you have any questions, please ask in the comments below, and I will do my best to answer them.
Squats are known as the king of all exercises. For good reason too, if you are good at squats, more than likely, you will be good at everything else.
Barbell squats might not neccesarily be king for everybody though. By its very nature, it can be a very dangerous exercise, especially if you don’t know what your doing and especially for seniors, if they don’t know what they are doing.
Fortunately, there are countless variations of squats that don’t require a bar.
If you don’t quite have a comfortable range of motion squatting, then use the bench, chair or TRX variations.
Try out the variety of squat variations I have put together for you below in the Squats for Seniors list. And let me know which one you like best. Enjoy 😀
Nearly everyone has a Swiss Ball, but generally the Swiss Ball is either hiding in the garage, spare room, or gathering dust in a closet, at best its occasionally being used as a chair.
Honestly I feel like the swiss ball has gotten a bad rap. With a little bit of knowledge the swiss ball can be a great exercise accessory. It can be great for helping balance, core strength, and can even work amazingly for finisher exercises.
So time to go find the swiss ball in the garage, dust it off, and try some of these Swiss Ball Exercises for Seniors.
40 Plus Personal Training 