By in Fitness, Newbies, Pain and Injury, Stretch & Release
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It’s week 2 of staying home as part of Singapore’s circuit breaker measures. I don’t know about you, but during the first week of staying home, I did feel like my whole life was in topsy turvy. Being someone whose work and life are intertwined, and the daily grind is constant activity, I was suddenly overwhelmed with restlessness, and trying to stay focused on deadlines for our online programs, a new working schedule, family time and so on. Apart from being restless, I was also filled with a new emptiness of not having my weekends teaching my little ballet students. 

 

Now, I could list all the benefits of working out and then conclude this blog piece with a “therefore by understanding these benefits you will feel the need to workout” but that’s not being very real about the situation. So instead, I’d like to share my tips so far on being able to stay active while at home.

 

  • Reminder

The night before – before I sleep, I select the workouts I will be doing the next day. For me it’s always a floorbarre or pilates workout to get my engine running, a ballet barre class, and a cardio workout. To me, that’s the bare minimum to give the body what it needs, but everyone is different. If you have selected one of our pre-recorded online pilates classes (http://bodytreegroup.com/online-classes/), or even the homework exercises that your personal trainer has given you, that’s great too!

 

Getting dressed into my workout gear in the morning is also a great reminder to workout. I feel dressed for it, so I better do something.

 

 

  • Routine

I wake up around the same time everyday and there are 3 things that I think about. (i) What are my appointments for the day (ii) when are my free slots (iii) thankful to have a comfortable home to live in; This gets my mind ready for my day. I get ready as if I was heading into the studio (and yes even spritz on some perfume).

 

The morning USUALLY involves me checking emails, in that case, I write down a list of the things that I need to complete, or add on to the list from the day before if there are longer term projects I am working on. If I don’t feel like starting with a screen and I do not have any morning appointments, I will start my day with 2 of 3 of the workouts I had selected the night before. Whichever it is, none is without my first cup of coffee 😀

But everyday is the same. 3 workouts before dinner time.

 

  • Reward

Not trying to be “little-miss-politically-correct” here when I say that the reward of doing all this is how my body feels good. For some of us, that’s probably a good enough reward, and if like me, the structure gives me a peace of mind. Your reward could be anything – perhaps the sense of achievement, the assurance that you will not relapse into the all too familiar aches and pains…. Some nights it is a glass of wine. Whatever “it” is, identify it.

 

 

I am no expert, but the human psyche is both powerful and stubborn. Sometimes we can be successful and will ourselves to check off all the boxes on our to-do list, some days, we just feel like we need to disconnect, or binge watch Netflix. Perhaps there are some days that our children or parents need us more than usual or you have to tend to matters not within your control. On such days, be kind to yourself. If it doesn’t happen today, it does not mean that every day will be a bad one. 

Take care, and I’ll be cheering you on.

Written By: Tabitha Poh

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