COVID-19 Lockdown: Fitness Expert Urges Nigerians To Exercise

A Fitness expert, Buchi Okereke, has urged Nigerians to adopt exercise as a lifestyle to avoid anxiety, depression and to remain healthy during the period of the lockdown.
Okereke, Director, Body Fitness Factory, said on Tuesday in Lagos that exercising would help to curb anxiety problems this period because it triggers a release of mood altering chemicals in the brain.
Okereke, who has over 20, 000 followers on his official Instagram page @buchifitness, gave the advice in an interview with newsmen.
According to him, many people have the misconception that exercises are only for fat or obese people but it will help others with issues, including back pain, high cholesterol and depression.
He said that the goal in the following days should not be about weight loss or toning up of the muscles but aimed at keeping fit and staying healthy.
Okereke said exercises should be intentional and planned, not something to be considered because one had no choice.
“People are at home now and a lot of them are saying, ‘I’m going to walkout today’ but they just don’t know what happened and they don’t, tomorrow it happens again.
“They just keep procrastinating,” he said.
The International Sports Science Association (ISSA) certified Fitness trainer also noted that the best time to exercise was early in the morning.
He cautioned those working at home not to give excuses why they couldn’t engage in exercises.
“You need to exercise to keep in shape; even if you’re not going to lose weight, don’t gain any.
“Think about the time you spend dressing up to go to work and the time you spend in traffic; use that same time to walkout before you start your day,” he advised.
Okereke recommended some indoor exercises people could do for functional movements, particularly those with limited spaces.
“Using a chair, you sit down and stand up 50 times nonstop; you’re working your lower torso and your arm string.
“Another easy exercise is to crawl on the ground and standing back up straight; you can also do that 50 times.
“You can also run up and down the stairs; if you want to do this, determine to do it say 20 times.
“Then, you can say, every one hour you’re going to take a walk from the kitchen to the parlour or do something like climbing on a chair and coming down 20 times,” he said.