This global pandemic has been a trying time for each of us, and many of us are finding significant difficulty in our attempts to free ourselves from the rampant stress, anxiety and depression that are more prevalent than ever before.
Suggested Reading
Exercise can work wonders in alleviating these afflictions, but as many of us have learned, itโs not exactly easy to get a workout in when our daily routines have been thrown into chaos as so many gyms throughout the country remain closed in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
However, Percell Dugger, a celebrity trainer whoโs worked with the likes of NBA players and Winston Duke, insists that while achieving your fitness goals might present more challenges than before, all hope is not lost. And in speaking with The Root, he was happy to provide some guidance on how to preserve your sexy during this global pandemic.
โOne of the things Iโm passionate about with my brand GoodWRK is our mission is to make wellness and fitness more accessible and inclusive,โ he began. โAnd I think part of being accessible is meeting people where they are. If youโre fortunate enough at this time to have WiFi, to have a place to live, [...] I would certainly encourage you to check out the many accessible and free YouTube workouts that are out there.โ
And if you struggle with working out alone, Dugger recommends enrolling in virtual classes. As the co-founder and president of Fit For Us, heโs one of many Black fitness professionals offering services that you can take advantage of from the comfort of your own home. Heโs also keenly aware that many of us are facing financial challenges at this time and offered working out outdoors as an excellent solution.
โA lot of folks are spending a lot of time inside due to COVID, whether youโre quarantining or youโre social distancing, and the idea of being around a lot of people is really a challenge to absorb and execute without feeling like youโre compromising your overall health,โ Dugger said. โMaybe start your day off with a 20-minute walk or somewhere in that range. But getting outdoors, frequenting some parks, going to different gardens, going to different community recreation spaces is really a great way [to stay in shape].โ
โWe always visualize the dude in the park with his du-rag on, doing pull-ups with the gloves. Or, the woman over there with a group doing boxing or kickboxing and Tae Bo in the field. I think any of those options really make sense and theyโre easy to do if you have the means. So if you donโt have a budget, get outdoors. Go for a walk, go for a jog, go for a run or hit up your local park. Go play basketball, get some shots up or you can go to the track or field. Do some sprints, do some push-ups, etc.โ
As previously noted, these are all excellent suggestions for cardio, but the absence of gyms also makes weight training much more difficult without access to dumbells, kettlebells and other weight training equipment. Thankfully, Dugger has an answer for that too.
โI think a great place to start is calisthenics,โ he said. โYou donโt have to lift a weight to have an effective workout. [...] If you use strength training and donโt have access to weights, there are a number of different ways that you can have effective workouts indoors. We call it isometrics and eccentricsโwhich are different types of contractions. You can do those without using any weights.โ
He also sings the praises of high volume trainingโmeaning more reps and setsโas a great way to improve muscle mass and hypertrophy.
โIf you want to build more lean muscle mass,โ he said. โIf you set a goal of 100 push-ups every day, maybe start off with 20 pushups in a day or 20 pushups every hour throughout the course of the day. If you do that over the course of a month youโll see some slight changes in your overall physique and conditioning.โ
But to achieve maximum results, you canโt be solely reliant on exercise; diet plays a key role as well. There are also medical conditions, such as heart disease and hypertension that Black folks are far more susceptible to.
โMy community at large deals with a lot of macro health disparities and inequalities that contribute to our relationship with fitness and staying in shape during COVID,โ Dugger said. โHeart disease is the highest killer in terms of our communities. And to unpack that, you understand that most Black and Brown populated counties in America are considered food insecure or food deserts, meaning you donโt have [immediate] access to adequate produce and nutritious food. But weโve got plenty of Popeyeโs, Burger King and McDonaldโs and gyms that serve us pizzas on Tuesdays. So I like this idea of wanting to actualize your relationship with wellness and continue to make progress.โ
To that end, Dugger and the Fit For Us team have made it their mission to address these issues head-on. In Self Magazineโs September issue, he wrote an open letter to the fitness industry calling to bridge the racial health gap in America, launched a therapy relief fund to make therapeutic services more accessible for Black women and formed a coalition with other fitness professionals in order to amplify Black voices and foster diversity and inclusion in the health industry.
Thereโs also his Digital Wellness Conference, a 3-day virtual event that was designed to empower and serve Black fitness and wellness professionals.
โTherapy with our community is very much stigmatized and looked at as being something that you donโt really engage with,โ he said. โWhen was the last time you were having a rough day and the wellness industry, the fitness space specifically, said, โHey, hereโs an outlook for you. Hereโs someone to talk to about how you feel; these emotions and the tough time youโve had and whatever youโve got going on mentally.โ
โFitness isnโt just about the numbers on the scale or before and after pictures. Itโs about community and serving that community. Itโs about allowing our community to have access to what other communities have access to that donโt look like us.โ
And with compassionate leaders like Dugger leading the charge to address these health disparities, weโre in the best possible hands.
To learn more about Duggerโs incredible work with GoodWRK and Fit For Us, visit their websites.
Straight From
Sign up for our free daily newsletter.