Never knew that this would change the world suddenly, entirely, in unspoken, infinite ways, forever. The world will never be the same again. In the past, we had thought of the weirdest of stories, fairy tales to alien stories about the world coming to an end. We did, but brushed it aside. Oh! That is fictional. Just relish the adrenaline rush and, move on. I did see little children watching Kitanuman in the superhero series by Shaktiman. But as fictional as it may sound, that story had Shaktiman to save everyone. Well now, here it is, for real. However, while we don't have that wonderful Shaktiman to save us, we have to make an endeavour to save our ownselves. The only way to stop the spread of virus is to stay indoors.
This is a war against something that is ubiquitous, all around, but yet unseen. It is felt only when it begins to hurt. And then the end is unknown. That is why it is all so eerie, so dangerous and so intimidating. For those, who have been involved in activities that have kept them so engrossed that they somehow didn't get an opportunity to do things that they always wanted to, but kept postponing, this is the time. A time to unwind, redefine priorities, a time to introspect and put things in perspective. Some may like to read, study, practice music, research, rearrange cupboards, spend time with old parents and find numerous things that they will wonder how they could ever overlook.
But one thing that is most relevant in today's world is exercise. Women, who need to finish off their household work, take care of the children and rush early morning to reach office in time, and then work until evening, reaching home only to find that huge pile of work to finish off, never really get time to exercise. Somehow, they have never had the opportunity to really take out time to exercise to their fullest potential and capacity, and hence have never been able to relate to an exercise routine and approach it the way it should ideally be done.
Women who have been battling it out, juggling between household, office, children, relatives and the nitty gritty of life have somehow not had the opportunity, if I may say so luxury, to internalise and relate to the inner self, completely.
Pursuing the need for self-actualisation helps a person not to become lonely when you are alone. There is ecstasy in solitude and that energy when utilised can create a beautiful you. Due to the 'forced' sedentary life today, many people become overweight and end up with lifestyle related diseases.
This especially holds for women, since women at almost every stage of life, undergo changes in hormones coupled with complexities that may be societal, physical or emotional.
Regular exercise, releases happy hormones like endorphins, serotonin and helps to keep you focussed allowing you, to cut off temporarily from all complexities and give you "me" time.
The efforts that need to be made to keep up the intensity, force you to temporarily cut off from everything. This ends up in making it a form of meditation.
In these times, when immunity is most relevant and precious exercising to boost immunity makes so much sense. We all know that exercise not only strengthens you but also helps to boost immunity. Exercises help to flush bacteria out of lungs and airways. This especially reduces your chance of getting a cold flu or other illness.
Physical activity helps to relieve stress. The lowering of stress hormones also boosts immunity. The white blood cells that fight disease in our body are called the soldier cells. Increased physical activity boosts their production, circulation and function, boosting immunity.
The slight rise in temperature right after exercise also helps to fight bacteria and infections.
Aesthetics and a fit and agile body is an added bonus.
The experience is further enhanced when you can go to a gym or the neighbourhood park with the proper workout clothes, hair tied up and an ambience that automatically gets you into the mood and flow. But during this period of lockdown, you may not be easily able to get into the flow when you are at home, and do not have the regular equipment that you have been so accustomed to if you have been going to the gym.
I have suggested a few exercises that you do at home, for which you need not have any extensive equipment or space.
In each of the section below, I have enlisted a few options. You can do one or a combination of any of the options listed below. Just make sure you do it with full interest and enthusiasm. Do it in a way that you find it enjoyable and strive to make it a part of you. Those ofyou,who have not been working out very regularly, those who are not highly motivated, believe me. It takes 21 days to develop a habit and make it a part of you.
Just don't give up. You need to just get up and do it, even if you don't feel like. At the end of 21 days, you will emerge, stronger, happier, and healthier.
- Warm up & Joint mobility routine: It is a great idea to warm up all joints. That is the first step in safe training.Move your wrists in circles, shoulder and reverse arms, around 10 repetitions in each direction.
- Jumping Jacks/ Skipping/ High-knees for 10 minutes.
- Push-ups/squats/Lunges 4 sets 20x3. You can give variations in these. Using a resistance band, in various moves you can do a full body workout targeting back, shoulders, biceps, triceps and legs. The number of repetitions can be high since the resistance is not as high, as compared to training with actual dumbbells and barbells.
- If you have a few sets of dumbbells and barbells, you can use them for resistance training. In this case you can target one body part a day and do a more complete workout hitting a body part from different angles for a more complete development.
- You can also do floor exercises and kettle bells if you have them. You can use your creativity and use furniture spaces and corners of the house. You will of course be able to do that if you have already been training in usual days and can adapt those exercises to your home environment.
- More than anything else, you must have the desire to get fit and use this time for your betterment which may actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
- Yoga is a great way to keep yourself fit you can target learning and mastering advanced asanas. The challenge will give you the motivation and a sense of achievement later to keep you going.
- Pranayam exercises are especially good for the period. Besides the pulmonary exercises like vacuuming target the transverse abdominal muscle which is particularly not easy target with conventional abdominal training exercises.
- You must keep a time to train abdominal and core strengthening moves that will help you, not just to strengthen your core and lower back, but also in improving your performance in all exercises and keeping your spine and back strong even asyouage.
- HIIT can be performed in most exercises and burn calories quickly. And even if you are doing nothing, but just having an interesting conversation on the phone, you can walk, as you talk. It turns out to be a steady state cardio even though it is slow; you are not sitting down on the couch or lying down. You are still moving and burning calories.
Let us think of this time as a blessing in disguise. Once it is over, you will miss these days. And if you have done something to get fitter and better, you will not only be very proud of yourself, but it will change you forever.
About The Author
Rita Jairath is an entrepreneur and one of the pioneering athletes in women's bodybuilding in India, she won the pro-card from the International Federation of Bodybuilding. she ..
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