I have never been a gym rat or a three-sport athlete. In fact, I wasn’t even a one-sport athlete after 9th grade. If phys. ed hadn’t been mandatory, I probably wouldn’t have stepped foot in a gym between 9th grade and freshman year of college. Throughout college, I worked out every now and then, sometimes for a few weeks at a time, but never kept it up for very long.
In December, one of my clients asked me about running a half marathon. I laughed. What a ridiculous concept. I let it sit and the more I thought about it, the more my thought process changed from “I could never” to “why couldn’t I.” I had plenty of friends who had done it and needed something to be working towards anyways. The next day I started running. That month I ran 15 times, clocking just under 22 miles. It was the most I’d ever run in my life and for the first time ever, I was enjoying running. It was also the first time I’d been able to see real change in my body as a result of working out. I was inspired. I kept running.
The more I ran, the stronger I wanted to be. I had decent paces, but I was starting to hurt my shins and wanted to build up my strength so I could be a better runner. When I started, I was theoretically training for a half marathon in March. I say theoretically because I never actually got into the race and even if I had, it was canceled. I decided to skip March and aim for a May race instead, so I could do cross the finish line without severely or permanently injuring myself along the way.
Without the pressure of a countdown, I started slowly incorporating different workouts into my routine, starting with some minimal leg work, cycling and bodyweight workouts. I downloaded the Peleton app and joined a cheap gym near my office, so that as my runs got longer and the days got shorter I could run after work, and bicycle on off days to stretch my legs. In working towards my half marathon, I finally fell into my workout groove. I was working towards a goal and with a purpose. Instead of working out because I felt like I should or because my boyfriend, Max, was going multiple days a week, I finally had something I was excited about and wanted to be better at.
About the same time that I started going consistently, Max joined Equinox. Needless to say, he convinced me it would be a good idea for me to join. When I first graduated college I paid upfront for a one-year gym membership that I used for two months, so I was hesitant to commit so much money a second time. However, I had been going to the gym/working out for three months consistently when I decided to take the plunge, so I was reticently more ok with the insane cost and sold myself on the spa-like environment and the idea of weekends at the outdoor pool with Max.
For the first two weeks, I was really good about it – doing classes before or after work, trying new types of workouts and making it a routine to go with Max on the weekends. Then the gyms started to take extra precautions and eventually closed. Luckily, by the time they did, I already knew the benefits of working out a few times a week.
Since social distancing started, I’ve continued working out a few times a week, with outdoor runs when I can. While my Equinox membership is on hold, I’m back to using the Peleton app and working my way through the strength training classes. I even branched out last week and did a cardio class (note that I typically HATE cardio so this was big for me). Building up my strength and stamina has changed how I feel about working out, and made me less afraid to try the cardio classes. I know when I’m in a bad mood that it’s probably because I haven’t worked out in too many days, and I feel so proud of myself when I crush a hard workout.
I’m excited to get back into the gym when we no longer need to social distance but am trying to keep up with Peloton and outdoor runs in the meantime.
If you haven’t found your groove yet and want to get into a routine, these are a few things that worked for me in getting started and have kept me on track over the past 3 months.
- Set a goal. I prefer an event to work towards like a half marathon, but this can be a strength goal, a distance goal, a speed goal, a weight loss goal, or a toning goal. Having an end game to work towards is more inspiring than just going through the motions.
- Find your ‘thing.’ Dark, loud workouts scare me. I feel the most inspired and excited about calm workouts and calm environments, like pilates or yoga. I found that Equinox is somewhere that I get excited about going to. Rather than being a dark basement gym, it’s spaces are full (as far as NYC goes) of natural sunlight. The classes will put you to work, but aren’t as intense as other places I’ve tried. There’s also so much variety in the classes offered – I find myself gravitating towards Pilates and barre but I think I’m going to try to incorporate more cardio and weight classes, thanks to what I’ve learned from Peloton.
- Find your community. Whether that’s a significant other or best friend to work out with, challenging yourself to make friends in your in-person classes when they resume, or finding an online community, having people who are going through the same experiences and challenging themselves in the same ways you are will help you feel safe and supported in working towards your goals. I’m part of a running group on Facebook and follow some fitness instructors and personal trainers on Instagram and seeing it in my feed, seeing other people work towards their goals never stops being inspiring.
- Acknowledge that 10 minutes still counts. You have to start somewhere. Whenever I don’t want to run or don’t want to workout, I tell myself ‘just do it for 10 minutes.’ I give myself an out. I don’t need to commit to an hour, I can just run a mile and see how I feel. Usually, by the time the 10 minutes are up, I’m ready to keep going and get a good workout in, but the shorter time commitment makes it easier to get over the biggest hurdle: starting.
- Have a plan. When I don’t know what I want to do, what I’m going to listen to, or what time works best for me to go, I end up skipping my workouts. When I started running, I used Nike Run Club to plan my weekly runs and listened to Big Bootie Mixes from Two Friends just about every run. It got old after a month, but to kick things off it was easy and reliable. I highly recommend the app if you’re looking to get started running or are training for an event. When I had access to Equinox, they opened sign-ups for their classes 2-3 days in advance and the classes filled up pretty quick so I made an effort to check the app daily and plan 2-3 days ahead. With no after-work plans, scheduling has gotten much easier and Max and I make it a point to do Peloton multiple times a week. We’ve gotten into a groove of 30-minute full-body strength workouts, which are great because there’s no planning involved and the music and exercises are all there for you.
What would you add to the list? I’m still pushing myself to continue my fitness journey, well-beyond another 3 months and would love to know what’s worked for you.
Shop the look: leggings (All Access from Bandier); top (Free People); sneakers (Nike)
Photos by Allie Provost
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