It’s not off to the best start: Wildfires in Australia, Tornados ripping through The South, and now the horrible COVID19. 2020 started off in January with happiness and full of resolution, but now it’s a battle of survival.
Despite the early, scary news out of Wuhan China, Americans continued to travel, go to gyms, and flock to the bars during some of the biggest drinking holidays. This seemed like a harmless act among the younger population, but quickly turned into governors shutting states down all over the nation. Then, a short-term shutdown became all the way to the end of April. With the loss of jobs, gyms, and schools and normal social contact, staying mentally and physically strong seems like a high mountain to climb.
Keeping in Shape
Fitness is one of the largest industries effected during the COVID, but much like other businesses, gyms and professional trainers have gotten creative on how to deliver content. Fear may set in at the thought of losing fitness goals, but maybe the isolation is giving more time to working on fitness. Now that we’re two weeks into all this craziness, it might be the perfect time to brush off the chip crumbs and utilize the tools you have to stay on track. Living in a time with social media, your workouts do not have to stop.
“Many fitness instructors have become influencers over the last few years,” said technology industry analyst Josh Crandall of Netpop Research. “They push us; the number of instructional videos available on YouTube and other online sources is fabulous. If your thing is skiing, there are specialized videos for conditioning. If you are into long cross-training, there are videos available to help you ‘hack’ your home for the tools you’ll need to maintain your edge. Most of the content is free, with ads, but if you tune into somebody who you really like, they may offer remote ‘live’ sessions for a small fee, or have a strict regimen of videos that can provide a structured routine for more than just one session.”
One example of this: Julian Smith. He has an affordable plan of six-dollars a month where you can get in the gym workouts every day with at-home workouts. What is great about Julian: He makes sure to post a video every day of him doing the workout so you can make sure your form and workout is done properly.
Using these Social Media tools will help keep the fitness nation happy, and healthy, and may introduce more people to things they’ve never done. Remember: The whole gym is a house with cans of soup, water bottle jugs, and even a suitcase filled with clothes can be used as a weight. Living in these unprecedented times, it may take a little more creativity to keep your body moving. Chris Hemsworth, Marvel Actor, is now offering a free, six-week fitness course at CenterFit.
Staying home, Staying Healthy
Being Home Alone to self-isolate and help flatten that curve is the dream of any introvert. An extrovert, though, may struggle. If the need of social interaction is what you crave, then finding new way to stay mentally healthy is important. Practicing social distancing does not mean practicing physical and emotional distancing. A “stay at home order” does not stop anyone from going outside and taking in the fresh air, or facetiming family members. Again, we have the technology to use to our advantage to stay in touch with the world. Theda Care’s Mental Health Clinician Catherine Langdon said, “The best thing that we can do for that is create structure for ourselves. So even if we’re more restricted, and can’t go out to all the places we’d like to go, moving around within your house, contacting friends and family via phone, with FaceTime, or video chat,” she said.
During uncertain times, maintain your sense of normalcy; find routine. Whether it be reading a book, or having a daily workout, getting up and doing something is the best way to get through our mutual isolation. Binge watching Netflix may seem exciting at first, but can become mind numbing after several episodes of Breaking Bad! So, in between the on-air action, get up and take a walk around the block, or give family and friends a call. We’re all in this together, and the whole world will get through this together, too.
By KonMan920
TYPO? Did you spot a typo or grammatical error in this story? Report it NOW to The Grammar Police so we can fix it before a potential employer – or one of our parents – sees it and busts us! Report it: HERE! Better yet, keep it to yourself – or at least six feet apart.