Category: Healthy Living

My routine these days consists of only leaving my house to go to the grocery store and to pick up food from a restaurant, to protect myself from the throngs of people who are considering face mask requirements as a light suggestion! I don’t really leave the house for much else… except a workout!

My gym opened its doors again at the beginning of the summer, much to my contentment. I waited a few weeks to feel safe, but since then, I’ve been back at the free weights during the week! They have limited equipments, spacing requirements, and the standard wipes for cleaning after using machines and weights (which, let’s be real, we all should have been wiping down our equipment before this COVID nightmare!). I keep myself and others safe, keeping myself to one section of the gym for the majority, if not all, of my workout!

As I mentioned previously, I’ve also been taking walks before or after my workday. It’s a great way to have some quiet me time!

Here’s a mini-breakdown of what I’ve been up to, in terms of keeping active in 2020:

Cardio: It’s all about the step goal, baby! I’ve been shooting for 15k steps a day. That said, some days I’ll do 10k steps a day, but I’ll tack on some miles on the bike to go with it! Oh yes. I GOT A BIKE. Aaron has taken to his bike like a fish to water, going for a crazy fast ride four times a week. He goes hard on his own, but he’ll join me for my more leisurely cruises, too! I like to get about eight and a half miles on my rides. My ability to complete my cardio varies, though! As much as I love pacing my kitchen watching TikTok videos, it’s a challenge to do that for hours on end to get up to 15k steps! Let’s also not forget that Florida’s title as the “Sunshine State” is misdirecting, as it tends to rain from 3PM – 4:30, 5:30, or 6:30 at night! I do what I can with what I have.

Strength: I’m at the gym roughly four days a week! The hours at my gym are minimal during the week, and they’re only open for four hours on Saturdays and closed on Sundays. With current safety conditions, I have to reserve a space in the weight room in order to access the free weights (I have left early/skipped a day because I felt uncomfortable with the amount of people in the weight room).
Currently, I’m focusing on my upper body and core, with little focus on my lower half, since that gets enough focus on my walks and bike rides! I start out stretching before I even leave my house, just to wake my body up before I dive into the heavy stuff. I start with bicep curls and shoulder presses to complete that warm up, and I typically use ten pound weights (though I’m working up to feeling comfortable using fifteen pounders!).
After that, I’m at the big squat rack… but not squatting. I use the barbell bar to work on my upper body through elevated push-ups and pull-ups. That’s when I get my pull-up practice done! From there, I do some ab work, and despite having a round tummy, I can see some definition of abs! It makes you wonder what my body would look like without the presence of the fat on my stomach. Hm. Hello Darkness, my old friend.
I finish off my strength workout with some serious dedicated time to my handstand resolution. My day is framed based on how well I do. I basically don’t leave the gym until I have a smile on my face from my attempts.

Granted, some days are better than others. Some days I have a great workout. Some days the only exercise I get is walking from my bed to the computer to the couch and back to bed (granted, those days ARE few and far between). I push myself to work hard, and feel strong, like Wonder Woman or a Jedi (I asked myself at the gym today: does my Star Wars obsession have an end date? I don’t see one in sight).

Though there are the obvious physical benefits to the workouts I do, the real reward comes from the focus on myself. Between the feeling of accomplishment when I do well at the gym, and the quiet time I have on my walks, my mind turns inward often, where I can find little moments of zen. When I bring myself back to the real world, the sky is a perfect purple or the moon is shining on a nearby pond. This time is healing, in every sense of the word.

That said, nothing gets me out of bed and into gym clothes like a feeling of alertness from a good night’s sleep. It’s 8:42 PM, and it’s time to read and rest!