Lets talk about activities that keeps you active, both physically and mentally during this lockdown
28 comments
I grew up on a farm in Michigan, where it gets cold in the winter. Cutting wood was a common task! It's physically exerting and mentally satisfying.
Now that I live in a neighborhood (no more woods in my backyard) and it doesn't get cold in the winter, that's not an option for me.
My fallback (which I need to get more serious on) is playing trumpet! In the past I'd done some distance running, ab crunches, and breathing exercises to get my stamina built up. Playing a wind instrument requires you to have a lot more control over your breathing and core muscles than you might realize. Even non-wind instruments (violins, drums, pianos, etc) need more control than just "doing whatever". Playing any music is good for your body and not just your mind.
You can get pretty intense:
But on the more realistic side, I prefer my flugelhorn to my trumpet. It's a little heavier so I get more of an arm workout, and you move a bit more if you're playing expressively. I don't quite look like Sheldon Cooper playing it, but maybe!
I‘m not really into sports normally especially when it causes pain (so I like yoga 🧘🏻♀️ but in a relaxed way, walking around but not too fast,.... pretty sure you know where this leads to)
But hard times in the lockdown are challenging me and I found it‘s hard getting to sleep - joined a martial arts group and now I have my daily „Bring Sally Down Challenge“
In the song is „Bring Sally down“ you go down and hold - until it‘s „Bring Sally up“.... and so on
No need to do it with knee squats you can do it with any kind of self-weight exercise - it‘s freaking hard, music is great, do it together with some people over some - celebrate yourself.
My normal routine includes mornings at the gym, so now that's done. I've been trying to do yoga or take a walk around the neighborhood every day. I am really sad I don't have a treadmill or elliptical trainer but alas. (I don't have room for either of those things.) (But would really come in handy right now.)
I've been enjoying walking around my neighborhood streets and photographing flowers, then coming home and trying to watercolor them. Here is my most recent attempt:
plank!
For this basic gym necessity, you shouldn't settle for anything other than perfect form. mat.
Just remember to make sure you have enough room to stretch out on the ground—and if you want to protect your elbows, use a good mat.
My days of the week are all messed up now. No clue if its a weekend or weekday!! My most annoying co-worker is always on the wrong side of the door... being a cat butler now has its challenges on zoom calls.
I miss going to the gym or even for walk on the trails around my office. For the first few weeks of WFH I simply ate everything in sight and felt like crap. Now I'm getting my head out of the fog its been in and starting to run mid day. The weather hasn't been the best but I'm still getting out there and doing it.
I've connected with friends and we are holding each other accountable by doing vid chat and sharing exercise logs.
This winter I've been working to get my back into shape so I can start kayaking again; I'm so out of shape from not being able to exercise for so long that now that I can I need to start slow so I don't re-injure myself.
So....I bought a desk cycle for my office and use it a few times a day. It's not as good as getting out with my road bike, but it does help. (I can even use it to work my arms by putting it up on a table.)
Between that and walking a couple of miles at lunch time I'll be back on the water this summer.
How did I miss that!?
The second best topic for me after #food!
At home, we are total gym freaks, and we are usually working out 6 or 7 days a week (yes, almost every day) as we pick the workouts regarding our mood, schedule, and workload.
The first thing we bought after the gym closed was a home bike :) Not having at least 5-6 miles walking a day is transforming me into a monster.
Since the beginning of the lockdown (a month now), I make some workout set for each morning. This keeps me energized for the day and help me stay fit while daydreaming about weights. The bonus part is that we have 2 kettlebells at home with decent weight (24 and 32 kgs).
And I use my #AtlassianCommunity notebook from Vienna to write down my workouts. 💙
