Showing posts with label Exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Exercise. Show all posts

Friday, April 24, 2020

The Right Fit


It's always a matter of luck and pleasure when you find that absolute right fit. It can be pretty much anything -- the headband that doesn't grip your hair too tightly or slide off; the coffee mug you can hold without effort; the shoes that you forget you are wearing.


planking cartoonI finally found that perfect fit with a fitness app. Like most of us, I've been trying over the years to find something that suits me. Too structured and I am out. Too loose and I don't adhere to it. I needed the just right bed, like Goldilocks, and I found it -- FitOn. The workouts are on-demand and they have classes. It's by level, impact, intensity and several other combinations. You can schedule your workouts. Their lengths suit me -- no more than 30 minutes usually. The fact that we are working remotely means that I have time to do this before and after work hours, and sometimes even during the occasional lunch break. 

Getting into a routine is hard, and the first few days I was so tired, I was hard-pressed to imagine how I would make this work if I also had my usual 2 hour commute. The only annoying thing is the invite your friend pop up, which shows up non-fucking-stop - before you start a workout, when you schedule a workout, after the workout, all the damn time. No friend of mine is using this app (and believe me I have tried). Stop it already. I even went in for a paid subscription.

I haven't seen my weight shift a pound but I am getting stronger. I sleep better and I feel more awake when I am awake. The routines become easier. I can hold a plank longer. I can actually do a full push up. All of these are great things in general, but especially in the middle of damned pandemic when routines are off and it's so easy to start the wine at 6 pm. After all, what's the difference when the day has ended. The stay-at-home order has been extended till the end of May (rightfully so) but that means there is even less activity in our collective futures.

Friday, June 14, 2019

Summer, where are you?

Random art spotted
Summer simply won't come to Chicago. There are a few days here and there, but no certainty that if you missed one of those days, there will be another one. It will be okay, it is not a serious problem, but after a long winter, summers help my mood. Summers this time around at least are also encouraging me to be more active and exercise more. I feel better for sure and it gives me a sense of control. Whenever I can now, I try and attend multiple classes. There is always something that comes up on certain days and so I'd rather do as much as I can when I have the time.

Thursday, April 18, 2019

An Exercise in Itself

I don't think I set foot in a gym before I was 26 years old. As far as I can remember, I've always felt awkward in the space (it's less now but it depends on how familiar I am with the space). I didn't exercise a lot and if I did, it took other forms: like the time I joined karate lessons or my walk-jogs in the park. I only started going when I started my graduate program, not from a place of wanting to exercise but rather knowing that it was both good and necessary for my health, physical and mental. It was a giant gym, a monument to the sports culture of the university. I mostly stuck to the treadmill and yoga classes but there was the one time I tried running on the indoor track and the other where we went swimming (and managed to somehow lock ourselves out of the swimming area).