During lockdown, the elastic band on most of our pants have been quite forgiving.
But now that real clothes with a zipper are starting to come back into our lives, those bottoms are reminding us about the exercise or activity missed in the last three months.
I’m going to assume that if you are reading this…
You are concerned about your body composition under lockdown
In order to understand what has happened in our physique during lockdown, let’s talk seriously about the last twelve weeks.
Keep in mind, I’m not trying to scare you.
Instead, I want inform you of what may be going on to your body and how we can change it.
Also, I apologize for the math bomb I’m about to drop but here we go...
The spread of COVID-19 has changed many aspects of our lives. By not doing simple extra bouts of movement that used to help us burn bonus calories in a day, we may be slowly increasing our body fat..
Let’s take a moment to think about the opportunities to move your body that we may have completed pre-pandemic:
Walking in a retail store or mall (500-1000 steps x 0.04 cal/step = 20-40 calories)
Walking to your car in a parking lot or public transportation (250 steps x 0.04 cal/step = 10 calories)
Walking around your workplace (1000-5000 steps x 0.04 cal/step = 40-200 calories)
Literally walking anywhere (not quantifiable)
Now with these opportunities temporarily gone, the lost Bonus Calorie Burn could be around 90-250 calories. While around 100 calories lost per day is not a lot, let’s do the math on what that means over the course of a few months…
90 days x 100 Bonus Calories Burn lost = 9,000 total calories
Because 3500 calories is equivalent to 1 pound of body fat…
9,000 total calories / 3,500 calories per pound of body fat = 2.6lbs of fat
2.6lbs of body fat isn’t a huge increase in body fat but will take effort to burn once stay at home orders are relaxed.
Back to the math…
How many extra workouts would you need to complete in order to burn that body fat accrued due to a decrease in general physical activity…
Let's say the average workout burns 300 calories
2.6lbs body fat x 3,500 calories = 9,000 calories
9,000 calories / 300 calories burned in a workout = 30 workouts
Yep, that’s 30 workouts you would need to complete in addition to your normal exercise routine in order to burn off that extra body fat.
If you normally workout for 60 minutes 5 times per week, you would need to tack on another 300 calorie burning workout to lose the extra 2.6lbs of body fat accrued during lockdown.
And keep in mind that I only did the math on a 90 day calorie burn loss. The body fat metric will increase as we spend more time at home and moving less.
I think you are starting to see how small, daily losses in Bonus Calorie Burn can have a large impact over time.
Instead of waiting until our lives return to normal to start to address this calorie burn loss, the better strategy would be to burn an additional 100 calories per day while in lockdown. Luckily, it’s not hard to get a little extra burn each day!
Here are some examples on how to make-up for that lost calorie burn:
Walk or run 1 mile. Every mile that you walk or run is considered a 100 calorie burn.
10 min of a HIIT workout. The average calories burned in a high intensity interval training workouts is around 10 calories per minute.
Ride a bike for 10 min. This could be done on the road or stationary.
10 min Burpee Intervals. Complete burpees for 1 minute, then take a 1 minute break. Repeat 4x for a total of 10 min
Remember that these activities should be completed in addition to a normal exercise routine. Our goal is to burn those calories that we usually consume throughout a pre-pandemic day.
Feel like you need help burning those extra calories or building a consistent exercise routine?
Or maybe you need accountability in order to stay motivated with exercise?
Take your first step towards creating your ideal physique and improved mood and well-being by setting up a free consultation with me. Together, we can create a 30 day plan to get you back on track!
Check out a Bond Bootcamp or contact me directly for personalized workout programs and accountability plans.
Thank you for reading and I hope you are staying happy and healthy!
YourTrainerKatie
