My fitness has been through a number of phases these past five months. It initially was in a phase of on and off, in the period I was finishing up with college. Then it went to a time where I was working out every single day for a few months, and now it has come to a point where I exercise a healthy 3-5 times a week. During this whole duration, however, I did not once think about how or what I was eating and was just focused on getting in that one hour of work. However, as my own fitness patterns changed I also noted that I was not alone in these sometimes subtle, but other times dramatic shifts in my exercise regimen. It wasn’t so much of what to do at home, but how to sustain it.
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I learned over time that when I saw my friends working out more, I was working out more. When I saw their texts about their workout plans for the day it motivated me to create workout plans of my own and execute them well. The same went for progress photos from my friends, they motivated me to work harder and achieve similar goals for myself. While for some, all this may seem like a divergent, Michelle Zhang states that having this kind of extrinsic motivation will help you move faster towards your goals whether the motivational factors make you happy or not. These are people you see as your peers and their decisions help influence your own.
While this workout kick is evidently going in and out with Chloe Ting becoming less important and cycling and running more important in my personal circle, I have been trying to think of ways to come up with innovative ways to either work-out with or feel like I am working out with my friends. All this, while staying safe and not invading each-others sanitation bubble. I would like to take a second here to re-iterate that COVID 19 is not going away anytime soon, social gatherings are the worst of ideas and that is not something we try to promote at all.
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So here are some ideas we have if you want to get moving or are looking to find a new way to keep moving:
Virtual Run-Along: Running applications such as Nike Running Club and Adidas Runtastic have made it very easy to track distance and duration for runs, for free. For a virtual run along either pick out a distance of an amount of time for which you and your friends will be running. Pick out your date, time and have at it. You can amp up the fun by maybe listening to the same playlist to feel like you’re together even more. Post the run you can share stats and accountability.
Workout Challenges: While there were a few workout challenges that really popped off in March and April, think of challenges that are more in line with you and your group of friends. Whether that may be a certain video or a certain exercise. There are many ways to share these challenges such as in a shared Google calendar where each member had to tick off the activities that have accomplished during the decided duration. This will keep your competitive spirit alive whilst finishing challenges one after another with your friends.
Weekly Goals: Create a list of one thing to achieve per week, for example, what is the longest plank you can hold, how much have you improved your splits, etc. and have weekly check-ins via video call with your friends to record progress. While this is a bit of a competition, look for the most improvement since all of you start on different levels and let that be a marker of the work you have put in all week!
Outdoor hikes or bike rides (socially distanced): This one speaks for itself, while initially many public trails and hikes were closed; they have now been reopened but must be taken at user discretion. Find a hike/bike ride that is not too challenging so you won’t have to help one another and break social distancing. Also, make sure to stay away from other groups of people, keep your masks on and have a good time. The outdoors is the safest way to be in the 6ft presence of someone and make the most of it.
Pretending to be a Face-Time Fitness Guru: This one is my personal favorite. While I have been working out, following the same videos, tutorials and plans have gotten boring. A good way to lighten it up is by having a group video call wherein you choose one friend to be the instructor for the day and impart their workout plan to you. All at super high energy, pretending to be a YouTube fitness star. This helps mix in new kinds of exercise while also providing motivation and breathing energy via the internet!
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Let us know how you have been creative with keeping yourself active while socially distanced and if you happen to try any of our ideas at home! Just remember that whatever you are doing, you’re doing great!
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