For what its worth, if you have the space for it, I can't recommend a pair of gymnastics rings enough. Unbelievable amount of versatility for $50. I've had powerlifting equipment, adjustable dumbbells, kettlebells, bands, access to gyms, and with a little bit of volume I feel like I'm getting more work done with rings than I have without about anything I've used in a decade; and they haven't completely sold out of everywhere yet...
New fitness habits being created during Covid?
121–130 of 179 posts
Re: New fitness habits being created during Covid?
#122The only people I know who seem to feel really good about their COVID fitness levels are those who prioritized it before the pandemic and are so committed that they were willing and able to figure out alternatives. People who didn't prioritize it or struggled to get into sustainable schedules are doing poorly. Even some of my friends who had really good routines fell into pretty serious depressions at the start of it…
It's been impossible to buy any kind of home fitness equipment for a couple of months now. I've seen kettlebells going for $500 on Amazon. People definitely thought they were going to jump into home fitness with both feet, but just like New Year's resolutions, I doubt that many of them stuck with it. If I had to guess, there are two groups of people who are taking advantage of the quarantine to better their fitness r…
Seconding all those saying resistance bands. They are the perfect complement to daily walks or jogging since weight is minimal and they easily sling over the shoulder. I see more people using them every month. For ideas on how to use them I suggest looking up Undersun Fitness on YT.
Re: New fitness habits being created during Covid?
#123Re: home weights, we used to use barbells made from steel pipe and concrete during rowing practices. The concrete "weights" were molded with paint buckets.
Re: New fitness habits being created during Covid?
#124The only people I know who seem to feel really good about their COVID fitness levels are those who prioritized it before the pandemic and are so committed that they were willing and able to figure out alternatives. People who didn't prioritize it or struggled to get into sustainable schedules are doing poorly. Even some of my friends who had really good routines fell into pretty serious depressions at the start of it…
Definitely me. My main fitness hobby, a grappling martial art (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu), had to stop. My diet fell apart, and my fitness level dropped precipitously. I am rebuilding now, lifting again, drilling BJJ things, walking with my wife, etc. it was not an easy adjustment. I’d definitely say I hit some mild depression.
Same, but outdoorsy stuff and I had to quarantine with a family member in Houston. I basically went from top 10% athlete level to feeling like a total couch potato. I just went back out this week and it's gonna take about a year to get back.
Re: New fitness habits being created during Covid?
#125The only people I know who seem to feel really good about their COVID fitness levels are those who prioritized it before the pandemic and are so committed that they were willing and able to figure out alternatives. People who didn't prioritize it or struggled to get into sustainable schedules are doing poorly. Even some of my friends who had really good routines fell into pretty serious depressions at the start of it…
One thing that helped a lot was that by having a commute I had a pretty good excuse to bike, it only took slightly longer than driving and it provided a break between work and home, to give me more time to adjust between the 2 modes. Not having a commute removed most of the motivation to bike. I force myself now (and I hate it most of the time) to go once a week over the local mountain but that still means only about…
Found it really nice to be able to get some frustration out biking home as hard as I felt like. Now I just kinda transition from the computer to the couch downstairs.
Re: New fitness habits being created during Covid?
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
One tip that helped me a ton – if you're WFH, turn your former commute (or some % of your former commute), and force yourself to work out during this time. I started that at the beginning of COVID and without exaggeration it's been life-changing. I put 0 pressure on myself to hit goals, I just run / do pushups / walk briskly, but I make sure to use the commute time on that rather than working more or browsing the int…
I've changed to work out in the middle of the day (thanks flexible job) which is a fun but challenging diversion from work. For me it's super tough to do morning workouts, and after work I want to relax, but in the middle of the day I'm still in my work mindset so it's been a nice change.
I actually do the same, I also feel like it helps me work better afterwards.
Re: New fitness habits being created during Covid?
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure, this one's called Freeletics. It was reasonably priced for a year (and you can find discount codes on Google). The feedback loop is _okay_ because although they have really stellar example videos on how to do the exercises, you still have to self-assess how closely you're matching the videos (there's no person that watches you or critiques). That's the only downside to the "AI" driven workout progressions.
Freeletics is great, but sometimes it pushes you too much. The whole no excuses thing is great and motivating, untill you injure yourself by overtraining and not having enough rest. I know, cause I injured myself like that and could not exercise properly for a year. Just something to be cautious about.
That's good to know and interesting. Honestly I've felt the opposite, like it's not pushing me hard enough. But my experience so far has been on the Starting Strength and Fit For Life routines, so maybe those are designed to work out a bunch of muscle groups but not super push you. Once I'm done with this cycle I'm planning to move to one of the more serious ones and will keep your caution in mind.
Re: New fitness habits being created during Covid?
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
The other day I looked into rowing machines (ergs). The one that seemed like the no-brainer best choice according to basically everyone is sold out everywhere. Heavily used ones are going for like 20% over retail on Craigslist. So much for that. I've been meaning to DIY a squat rack in the garage but I need a bar, and I haven't even bothered to check that. I assume they're hard to find and selling for over-normal-pri…
I've been squatting with elastic resistance bands. Works great and I don't need to shove a rack somewhere.
Oooooh I have a couple sets of those kicking around, if I double them up, that might work. I wanna start doing some other big compound lifts, too, but that'd be better than nothing.
Re: New fitness habits being created during Covid?
#129The only people I know who seem to feel really good about their COVID fitness levels are those who prioritized it before the pandemic and are so committed that they were willing and able to figure out alternatives. People who didn't prioritize it or struggled to get into sustainable schedules are doing poorly. Even some of my friends who had really good routines fell into pretty serious depressions at the start of it…
Definitely me. My main fitness hobby, a grappling martial art (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu), had to stop. My diet fell apart, and my fitness level dropped precipitously. I am rebuilding now, lifting again, drilling BJJ things, walking with my wife, etc. it was not an easy adjustment. I’d definitely say I hit some mild depression.
Just wanted to commiserate with you a little about the combat sports. I was in the several weeks into a training camp for my first amateur muay thai fight when my state's shelter-in-place order came out. Not being able to work with training partners and equipment (weights, heavy bags, and whatnot), and especially not having that as an outlet anymore has been really hard.
Like you, I think I'm finally making a little progress towards rebuilding, but there's been a couple pretty rough patches along the way.
Re: New fitness habits being created during Covid?
#130The only people I know who seem to feel really good about their COVID fitness levels are those who prioritized it before the pandemic and are so committed that they were willing and able to figure out alternatives. People who didn't prioritize it or struggled to get into sustainable schedules are doing poorly. Even some of my friends who had really good routines fell into pretty serious depressions at the start of it…
One tip that helped me a ton – if you're WFH, turn your former commute (or some % of your former commute), and force yourself to work out during this time. I started that at the beginning of COVID and without exaggeration it's been life-changing. I put 0 pressure on myself to hit goals, I just run / do pushups / walk briskly, but I make sure to use the commute time on that rather than working more or browsing the int…
That's what I do -- I used to keep an hour blocked off of my calendar for "commute time", now I use that time to workout.
At the beginning of the quarantine, I bought a spinning bike (I've been thinking about getting one for over a year, but going to the gym spinning classes a couple times a week was relatively convenient since the gym was near work). I also invested in a set of dumbbells.
Now I work out 5 days a week -- alternating between spinning and strength training. If I miss the morning exercise for any reason, it's easy to fit in a 15 minute session sometime during the day, something that was much harder to do when I was going to the gym for exercise.
I don't think I'll ever return to the gym now that I've experienced the convenience of working out at home in a virtual online class.