Exercise After COVID

The pandemic. 

COVID changed people's exercise routine. A lot of people exercise less since the pandemic began. 

Many reasons can be listed for that. 

First, people started working home. People used to commute by walk/bike no longer do. Even people who commuted by car, they still lost opportunities to walk from parking lot to their desks.

Second, gyms got closed. Many cities ordered gyms to close. People who would work out with treadmills, heavy barbells or any machines no longer access to them. People can't swim without access to pool. A lot of people stopped gym memberships. Not only gym closure made people lose physical access to exercise equipment, but also lose motivation of exercise. Most gyms provided classes and social opportunities. Those occasions motivate people to exercise. Social exercise clubs, such as running clubs stopped their activities.

Third, due to social distancing, people started doing chores online as much as possible. This prevents people from walking. 

In my case, most affected point is #2. The gym. Mid-March 2020, city of Boston prohibited gyms to stay open. So I left my gym. At the gym, I used to swim twice a week, attended barbell classes once or twice a week, and used a rowing machine once a week. Every visit I needed access to something I don't have at home. After the closure? For a couple of weeks, I couldn't do much exercise. It was not fun. 

My solution was to get a barbell set and subscribe exercise program streaming. At the gym I used to take a class called BODYPUMP. This is a class invented by a New Zealand based company Les Mills. Now, I have access to all the classes Les Mills provides. They have 15+ different kinds of workout. One of them is BODYPUMP. The gym I would go only offered BODYPUMP, but now I do CXWORX, in addition to BODYPUMP. CXWORX is a program focused on core. Since core is the most important part (core part, literally) for any kinds of exercise, it is really good I discovered it. I love Les Mills programs. Besides that, I also do GLIT cardio and BODYCOMBAT, these are cardio workouts. At the gym I used their barbells, now I have them at home. Now I don't need to go back to a gym even after pandemic. I know that some people say they don't feel fun or motivated working out at home alone, but these Les Mills programs are quite different. They have elite Les Mills- certified instructors: they are really really good forms and great teaching skills even via videos. They keep encouraging people via screen: I feel like I am in the live class. Also Les Mills offers many different version of workouts. For example, BODYPUMP new version is released every 3 months. Now the newest is BODYPUMP116. On the stream, I can choose from BODYPUMP86 to BODYPUMP117. The same thing for other 15+ programs. Yes, there are SO many workouts I can do. 

Although I am really satisfied my move to Lesmills Ondemand streaming, I admit that I miss live classes and swimming at the gym. It is nice to see other people are suffering in the class. That grow camaraderie among participants, because most of the participants in the class are regulars. Also, in live classes, BODYPUMP instructors can mix up menu of the training. In the streaming, if I chose BODYPUMP115, I need to do from track1 to track10 all from BODYPUMP115. Instructors have special App and they can make their own class: for example, warm up track from BODYPUMP111, squat track from BODYPUMP98, chest track from BODYPUMP115. Each BODYPUMP class consists of 10 tracks: warm up, squat, chest, back, triceps, biceps, lunges, shoulder, ab, cool down.

Now the gym is partly re-opened, but no classes. Most gyms limit a number of people at one time.

Someday normal gym structure comes back.....some day.