Without club sports, the walk to and from the class or the library, my friends, there seems to be more time in a day since I've left school. One thing I was missing out on this semester with my packed schedule of classes and extracurriculars was the gym. I craved the weights but I simply did not have time for the gym. Well, now it seems I have a lot more time, so I decided to completely reset my fitness routine.
I no longer need to get fit for a tryout or a coach or anybody else but myself. I love working out. I love the feeling of a pump in the muscles, the wind against my face on a long cycle ride, and the melody of my shoes on the ground during a run.
This goes out to anybody struggling to start a fitness routine during quarantine or thinks they don't have the right equipment to get in shape right now. Let me tell you, all of the equipment and the drive to get fit is inside of you as you read this right now.
I have essentially been alternating between Strength/HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and Cardio every day. There are thousands of free bodyweight strength training and HIIT videos on Youtube available to everybody and during the quarantine, many premium fitness companies are teaching their classes for free. A few quick searches and you will find a class that fits you. If you didn't like it, find another. If you liked it, see if they've posted more or do the same workout again!
The beautiful thing about getting fit right now is the fact that you aren't confined to the cables, dumbbells, and bars at the gym. This is the time to learn how strong you really are with your own body.
For my off-cardio days I perform a strength training session followed by a HIIT session, because you don't want to waste all your energy on the gains, am I right? Also, I find it beneficial to finish up with the HIIT training to really burn yourself out and feel great. My strength days lately have been alternating between two workouts, much of which are bodyweight exercises but some require weights. I have crafted my own weights from five-gallon buckets, one filled with bird seed, and the others full of lacrosse balls and hockey pucks. In addition, I filled up two empty orange juice containers with water for more maneuverable weights.
The first is a chest/shoulders workout. Here's how it goes:
Cycle 1 (Chest): Complete all the way through x3, 15 second rest in between exercises, 120 second rest between sets. Numbers can certainly be modified for your strength.
4x Clap Push-ups
8x Decline Push-ups (I just put my feet up on a patio chair)
To failure Close-grip (diamond) push-ups
15-30sec Isometric chest squeeze (press your hands together in front of you and squeeze your pecs, it should burn by the end of the time)
Cycle 2 (Shoulders): Complete all the way through x3, 15 second rest between exercises, 120 second rest between sets. I use my five gallon buckets for this one.
10x Lateral Raise to Front Raise (10 EACH ;-) ) (I grab the handles of each bucket in each hand)
10x Standing shoulder press (I use the bucket full of birdseed for this one and grab each end of the bucket with each of my hands.
The second is a workout I've been doing to increase the number of pull-ups I can do. I'd consider it a back/arms workout, works great for knocking those birds out in between cardio days.
15-120sec x3 Dead hang (time depends on your grip strength, go until burn and then some to determine your time) (I fashioned a pull-up bar out of a broken hockey stick that I strapped to my tree in the backyard)
15x x3 Inverted Row (Emphasize pulling through the elbows, activate your lats) (I use the birdseed bucket for this, grab either side with fingers)
5/side Abdominal X-Up (Focus on abdominal contraction, get your shoulders off the ground)
SUPERSET with
15-120sec Side Plank (Again time depends on your oblique strength, go until burn and then some to determine your time)
Do this quick core circuit x3
Bicep Work:
20 Hammer grip curls, directly into
20 cross body curls, directly into
20 horizontal grip curls (I use the orange jugs for this one, high volume with relatively low weight creates a great burn)
Tricep Work
15x Lying triceps extension (I lay down on one of the patio ottomans and put my head on a bucket)
15x Tricep kickback while holding 90 degrees with other arm for isometric bicep activation
BANG! There you have it. A couple strength exercises that you can do to bulk up and increase your strength. All you need is your body weight, some old jugs, a few plastic gallon buckets, or anything else you think will work! All of this at a fraction of the cost of an adjustable dumbbell or set of dumbbells. Hopefully this equipment will work until the gyms open back up, and by then we'll be even stronger!
On cardio days, I have been running. I found a plan on the following website that I absolutely love. You start low and slow and work your way up. These plans reveal how remarkably adaptable the human body is! There's a plan for anybody in here:
Now, the human body is remarkably adaptable, but you can still overtrain. Unfortunately, I was pounding the pavement a little too hard and my shin splints came back with a vengeance. I turned to the bottle...the water bottle on my bike! I got situated with my dad's road bike and borrowed his cycling shoes and have been going on long-distance bike rides with my mom. It's a really fun, low impact way to explore the area around me and build up my endurance muscles and cardio. I freaking love it.
The more you workout, the more you learn about your body and what it needs to perform its best. You will start to figure out which workouts work best for your body and which you would prefer to stay away from. Even better still, you will learn what you love to do and what you don't like to do so much. You might hate working out at first, but I promise you will find the piece you love and will get addicted from there. Not a bad addiction to have!
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