Here we are again with a double poster. You know the drill. The piece set off by the date will be for the new group, all of the rest is just for you. Cause I love you. Or because you voluntarily put up with my nonsense. One of those.
I miss the gym. That's what is triggering this post. There are a lot of things that are actually pretty good about this whole stay at home thing. Like staying at home. And staying at home guilt free. There is no feeling of "I really should go do..." nope. I shouldn't. I should stay home. It's the right thing to do. Yay!
But I actually miss the gym. I miss lifting heavy things and putting them back down. I miss that feeling of accomplishment in my day. I miss watching the gym people and either seeing their stories play out or making up my own. And I miss knowing I'm doing what is right for my own health by going. I can't really fix all of those, but I can keep moving. So I spent a lot of time trying to figure out my home routine. At that brings us to this:
April 10, 2020
I am not exactly a gym rat, but I do (normally) go 5 times a week. I lift weights 3-4 times a week and force myself to use the treadmill once or twice a week. I have had arthritis in my knees for the past ten years and if I don't stay strong and active they let me know.
I am also vain. I know you aren't supposed to admit such things, but I am. I like having muscles. I like flexing my arms and seeing a line of demarcation there. This is my muscle. I am strong. I like it. So I work at it.
We went on vacation the end of February for a week. When we got home I got sick right away. (Not Covid, as far as I know, I had a lot of sinus congestion and that's not one of the symptoms) But with the week away and then the week sick that was two weeks out of the gym. The second week of March we were on "social distancing light." You could go out, you could do your semi-normal things but keep space, wash your hands. So I was back in the gym for a few days.
Then we went into the full on STAY HOME routine. Hard to believe that was only a month ago.
I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I was going to work out. A couple of years ago we cleared out our home gym items, we never used them, they were just taking up space...whoops! So it was You Tube recordings on test drive. I went back to the old favorites from the 90s when I was a stay at home mom working out at nap time. I tried a series a friend of mine who is in excellent shape does. I went through a lot of others as well. Too easy, too hard, annoying voice, bad music. On and on.
I finally settled on a new routine that is completely different than what I normally do. It's very loose. They play music and give a few cues but it's mostly just move in a way that feels comfortable to you and have fun. After years of a rigid routine this is kind of wild. It's totally different than really watching my form, and recording the weight and the sets and making sure I'm balancing my workout. It's very loose. I'm really liking it.
Because it's so different.
Everything is different right now so why not my workout routine as well? I will be really glad to get back to the gym when all of this is over. And I already know I will be sad about how much less I can lift. But for now? I'm liking the free form just flow routine style. I think it helps to keep moving and it helps to have that time where I'm not worried about what I'm feeding us, how I'm going to get groceries, are all of my friends safe, how long will this last...
I'll be interested to see, once this is all over, what our new normal looks like. What are the things that will change? What lessons will we have learned about ourselves and how we actually want to live? As for right now I could see keeping my subscription to this workout system and supplementing my weight lifting with a little more loose and relaxed body movement.
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The part I didn't include was that the one I tried that Shay does? Body Combat? HOLY FUCKING SHIT no wonder she's in such good shape! It was hard, and I only did the introduction to the moves cycles. It was also not at all a good idea for me. Though the super driven LET'S DO THIS! part of me was already counting down the days it would take me to get the whole routine locked in and be able to do back to backs like Shay does my knees were already SCREAMING at me. There is a lot of jumping and kicking and just not at all what I can do without hurting myself. I'd like to say I stopped right away, but I did three of them before accepting the fact that I cannot do a routine like that.
So when I picked up Body Groove, the one I settled on, my first reaction was..."White lady in dreds? Oh hell no..." But I actually liked it. I liked the "Do what feels comfortable" cues. I liked the music. I liked the "There is no wrong way to do this, just keep moving" aspect of it all. I sort of feel like maybe it's a really good space for me to reconnect with my body as a whole instead of as pieces. Like I am moving all of me when I dance instead of just thinking about biceps, or quads, or abs...
But let's not get carried away, I am doing Groove three days a week and some body weight strength two days. I'm not willing to completely let go of my muscles. I already know there will be days of weeping when I go back to the gym and have to start with the pink weights....
But I'm trying to take all of this in stride and find the positives and the benefits. I'm trying.
Stay safe.
Stay home.
Stay fit.
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