Physical Exercise During COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction (5 minutes)

• Ask everybody to wash their hands with soap, or disinfect them using hand sanitizer.
• Introduce yourself, explain what you do and give the name of the organization you are working for
• Ask the participants to introduce themselves
• Explain the objective of the activity and what you will be doing today: today we are going to learn about meditation and how we can practice at home

Main activity (80 minutes)

Part 1 – Brief explanation of what is COVID-19 (5 minutes)

• Ask: Can someone explain what is the COVID-19?
• If someone answers, make sure that his/her answer is correct. If not, give the correct definition (see the definition below).
• If nobody can answer, explain that it is an infectious disease, caused by a newly discovered virus named coronavirus and the disease it causes is known as COVID-19. It was unknown since the outbreak in China in December 2019. Now, the virus has spread all over the world and infected most of the countries on the planet. The virus is not systematically deadly. Most of the people that get infected with Coronavirus recover. Old people and people with previous medical records are the most vulnerable to the virus.

  Coronavirus is a type of virus. A virus is very small, too small to be seen by the human eye. It needs a living host to survive (human, animal). This means that the COVID-19 disease cannot be contracted by eating food, being in contact with dirt, or drinking unsafe water – these are not living elements. Domestic animals can get infected with the virus but it is very unlikely that they transmit the virus to human beings. The disease causes respiratory illness (like the flu) with symptoms such as dry cough, fever, and in more severe cases, difficulty breathing.

Part 2: Physical exercise and its benefits (15 minutes)

• Explain that exercise consists of making movements and doing activities to keep your body healthy or make it stronger. When doing exercise our muscles move which allows burning calories and keeps us healthy.
  Benefits of regular physical exercise:

  ·         Boosts the immune system:

  Research shows that regular, moderate-intensity exercise has immune-boosting benefits that may help our body fight off infections, including COVID-19.

  ·        Improves Mood

  Physical activity stimulates the brain that is likely to leave us feeling more relaxed and less anxious. This stress relief helps us to feel lighter and happier. We may also feel better about our appearance as we are more physically fit when we exercise regularly, which can boost our confidence and improve our self-esteem.

  • Boosts Energy

  Regular physical activity is likely to improve our muscle strength and boost our endurance. Exercise delivers oxygen to our body and helps our muscles to work more efficiently. And when our heart and lung health improve, we have more energy to tackle daily chores. This means we will be able to do more chores. 

  • Ensures Better Sleep

  Regular physical activity can help us fall asleep faster, get better sleep and deepen our sleep. As our calories will be burned during exercise, our bodies will give signs of the need for sleep.

 

Part-3: How is light exercise related to the COVID-19 pandemic? (10 minutes)

The COVID-19 pandemic means that many of us are staying at home and sitting down more than we usually do. It’s hard for a lot of us to do the sort of exercise we normally do. But at a time like this, people of all ages and abilities need to be as active as possible.

We are all managing additional stress related to the growth of the COVID-19 pandemic and its potential to threaten the health of ourselves, our families, and our communities. Physical exercise can have a huge impact on anxiety we are feeling due to coronavirus and help ease stress and depression. As such, we need to consider using physical activity and exercise as a strategy to maintain health during this stressful period.

Physical exercise will not prevent us from catching the virus, however, it does have many other protective effects. Physical activity helps improve all aspects of your health, including boosting our immune system. It also reduces stress and anxiety and improves mood, which in turn helps us to sleep better and prevents burnout.

Therefore, not only it is important to stay physically healthy during times of stress, but taking care of our emotional and mental health is just as crucial — and exercise can help improve both.

Part 4: Demonstration of light exercises (45 minutes)

Show the video Beginner Yoga for Weight Loss, Strength, Flexibility using the Ideas Cube. Translate/explain the video by taking pauses.

• After completing, ask them how they feel (encourage them to speak up)

Conclusion (5 minutes)

• Thank the participants for their involvement and concentration during the session.
• Summarize what was learned during the session- importance of physical exercise and practice of light exercises
• Explain to the participants: If everybody applies the basic protection measures, it will contribute to slow down the infection spread and help to eradicate the Coronavirus. I strongly encourage all of you to adopt the protection measures daily and share them with your family and close relatives.
• Ask everybody to wash or disinfect their hands before leaving the session.