Stay Active
If you are anything like me through this social distancing era, you are finding it hard to stay motivated with certain things. I have been talking the last few weeks about keeping as much normalcy as possible in your routine, sticking with your healthy eating, exercise, and all of those fun things. I have, however, learned it isn't always the easiest thing to do during this time that is anything but normal. So I figured I would elaborate a bit on that topic and talk about exercising specifically on a much more in-depth level.
I personally have been struggling a little bit to keep up with my 5 days a week schedule when it comes to exercising. After spending the majority of my day cooped up in my bedroom at my desk where I am set up for work, the last place I want to be is in there again to exercise. If you are anything like me, space is lacking a bit as well too. Since I am having to stay in my bedroom a lot of the time right now I had to move around some things to make space for my work setup. So that just means I have less space to work with as far as a workout goes. A lot of my exercises are doable, but the occasional one needs to be modified in some way to accommodate for the space i have to work with. When motivation is already lacking a bit, small little obstacles such as this only give us all the more reason to blow things off. Now I am by no means saying this is okay, but it happens. I am sure a lot of you are with me when I say that when I am already unmotivated, any small hurdle is going to deter me away from working out.
So what can we do to change things around? I would say if possible change your surroundings as much as you can during this time. As I said I have been working out in my bedroom but I think that has been a pretty big error on my part. Working out in the same place you have been working all day, and they same place you sleep each night is simply going to deter most people from actually getting the job done. For one, if you are sitting there all day, you will be bored of those same walls and appreciate the new surrounding. I am considering setting up a small area of the basement that I can go down and workout in myself for this reason. If you have somewhere outside in your back yard, as long as the weather is nice, that could work too. Just somewhere to change up your surroundings that your subconscious isn't already associating with work or relaxation/sleep.
What about the workouts themselves? Well working out from home is a much different experience from the gym. I very obviously do not have a squat rack, a barbell, a leg press machine, or anything of the sort. I, of course, am going to lose some of the progress I have put so much time and effort into, but that is okay. This is all for a very important cause. What I can do is change things up as best I can. I am lucky enough to still have my personal trainer and we are working together on a program I can do from home. If you do not have that luxury, as I have mentioned before there are plenty of programs and apps that are offering free memberships during this time. I know the actor Chris Hemsworth is offering a free period of his fitness programs, but let's face it if I started using those I would be doing a lot more watching than exercising 😉! Take this time to try out something brand new. This past Friday I did an online workout from my gym that was a dance choreography. I learned that I looked like an absolute fool doing it, but had a lot of fun. I never in a million years would have been brave enough to just go to a class like that, so this was a nice change. I burned around 600 calories and had a blast doing it, looking ridiculous or not! Take this time to change up your routine, and you just might find something you love!
When all else fails, why not go for a run, walk, or even a bike ride? Yes, we are supposed to be staying home and keeping our distance from each other, but that does not mean we cannot get out for a little fresh air. As long as you are by yourself and keeping your distance away from everyone as you are out then you should be just fine. Take some hand sanitizer with you or even wear a face mask if you have these resources available to you. Do what needs to be done to keep yourself and others safe, but by all means get your cardio in outside. I plan on getting right back into the swing of things next week and no longer using this as an excuse to be lazy. I highly suggest you do that same thing. I think I will take the next few weeks to offer suggestions just like this when it comes to keeping healthy through this crazy "new normal" we are living through right now. It is especially important now to stay healthy. I look forward to continuing on a similar topic next week. Stay safe everyone!
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