COVID-19 has created unprecedented uncertainty, particularly about how and where to engage in physical activity. With stay at home orders in place and fitness centers currently closed, many have taken to working out at home or in outdoor settings away from others to maintain their physical fitness. However, for individuals in quarantine or isolation, space restraints and outdoor restrictions make working out difficult thus putting strain on physical and mental wellbeing. Petty Officer Third Class Maxim Cravet, Health Promotions Hospital Corpsman at Navy Medical Readiness and Training Command Pearl Harbor (NMRTC PH), developed a workout program with space and movement restrictions in mind.
Cravet's program can be performed in small areas with minimal equipment. The program includes exercise routines and supplemental exercises that are adaptable, taking into account each individual's current fitness level. "The routines are provided in a very easy to follow template, with exercises ranging from beginner to more advanced fitness levels," explained Cravet. "Supplemental exercises are provided in the event that the individual feels the routine is not challenging enough."
Routines are three-part and consist of a warm up (pillar prep), exercise portion, and cool-down with stretching or foam rolling. All portions of the workout are outlined alongside pictures to help facilitate successful completion and minimize the risk of injury.
"The exercises generally start with 'Pillar Prep' which serves as the warm-up," explained Cravet. "Your pillar consists of your shoulders, core, and hips. Warm-up involves of a variation of plank, glute bridge, and shoulder warm-up exercises."
Cravet designed the exercise portion to focus on functional training that mimics an operational environment. Movements include upper/lower body, push/pull, and rotational movements.
The workout ends with a cool-down to help recovery.
Beyond the physical benefits, studies on brain chemistry show that exercise has a positive effect on mental health and can be beneficial for individuals in isolation or quarantine.
Lieutenant Jessica Gurley, Physiatrist at NMRTC PH, explains, "Exercise helps boost endorphins and increase blood circulation to the brain, thereby activating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis), which improves our physiological reactivity to stress. The HPA axis then acts on the limbic system in the brain, which is important for motivation and mood, the amygdala (the brain's fear responder to stress) and the hippocampus, our memory center. Proposed psychological mechanisms include the 'distraction hypothesis' and 'self-efficacy hypothesis'; so basically exercise helps us by distracting us from what's going on and can improve our self-esteem. Lastly, exercise can improve sleep, endurance, stress, energy, weight, cardiovascular fitness, and mental alertness, all of which impact mental health."
By way of a workout program designed with space modifications in mind, Cravet is helping to boost physical and mental wellbeing during quarantine or isolation.
Regardless of one's situation, COVID-19 has changed life situations in unprecedented ways. The changes can be mentally and physically taxing for anyone. NMRTC PH's Mental Health Professionals remind us to remember the following guidelines to help beat the COVID-19 blues: limit information seeking to legitimate resources during specific times of the day, take breaks from the media, stay brilliant on the basics such as adequate sleep, diet, exercise, and emotional/spiritual health, do activities you enjoy, and connect with family and friends.
| Date Taken: | 04.29.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.29.2020 21:36 |
| Story ID: | 368825 |
| Location: | HI, US |
| Web Views: | 62 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NMRTC PH Workout Program Beats COVID-19 Quarantine/Isolation Blues, by Macy Harris, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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