I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy! These are certainly unprecedented times we are living in today. It’s so easy to lose track of time and the importance of taking care of ourselves both mentally and physically at times like these.
I will admit I was one of those individuals once learning of the pandemic that bought more hand sanitizer. tylenol, cold medicine, etc than I could ever use. The thought of the pandemic consumed me in those early days of February. However, once again exercise was my savior. Even though I knew gyms and group classes weren’t probably the safest places to be at this time, I continued to go, but was very cautious. I never sang “Happy Birthday” so many times in my life before. My hands were definitely clean!
Once we hit the “Pause” button in New York my heart sank. What was life going to be like? How was I going to stay physically and mentally sane? The first thing we did was move to our home on Long Island and decided to camp out there until things settled down in Manhattan.
Once we got to the house, I let out a huge sigh of relief. It felt so good to see greenery and open spaces. I felt I could breathe. Just being here made such a difference for me mentally. However, one thing was missing…ROUTINE. I was a bit discombobulated the first week and gave myself a kick in the rear and said “Rich, Get MOVING!” and that’s exactly what i did. We made the bedroom above the garage into a makeshift gym. We were lucky enough to have purchased weights before they were sold out and YES..we had the Peloton bike. This was my life savior. At first it was difficult to get motivated to get on the bike because I thrive on being around people and the energy and motivation that we give one another. However, I was consistent each morning in riding the bike and gave in to the Peloton phenomenon. I found my instructors and allowed myself to be brought into their world. It only took a few rides for me to feel as though I was physically with a group of riders, feeding off of their virtual energy. However, I needed variety so I went on Instagram and saw there were so many trainers doing instagram workouts. I jumped on the Barrys virtual bandwagon, but I still needed more.
Right before the pandemic, I began working out with a terrific trainer @tommcgeefit. I loved the workouts and was missing them. My trainer reached out to me to see if I might be interested in virtual one on one training. I was a bit skeptical at first, but said, “lets give it a shot”. Well let me tell you, I was definitely surprised! I love the virtual workouts. The workouts are just as hard and creative as the workouts we did in person. I look forward to each session.
What I learned about myself during this time is that I can adapt. I just needed to be open to trying different ways of doing things and giving them a chance. I gave virtual training a shot and it was my fitness and mental savior. I can say now that I have a “Virtual Fitness Routine”.