My workout schedule over the course of a ‘normal’ week is about half solo – hiking, running, and some lackluster weight lifting, and about half social – teaching class or walking with friends. The solo workouts tend to be more meditative and the group workouts more about connecting socially. I think it’s vital and healthy to have both.
I’ve been teaching group fitness at the Y for more than 20 years. With coronavirus restrictions, I haven’t taught in 3 weeks. I miss it. To clarify, I miss the people.
Several of my participants have been coming for 10 or more of those years. There’s even one woman who has been coming since I first started. These participants have become my friends, my Y family – the reason I haul myself out of bed twice a week at 4:50 a.m. so I can get there and start class at 5:30.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve made workout videos and shared them via youtube with my regulars. The videos provide a good solid workout, but I realized they’re lacking. What’s missing is the interaction and energy of my ‘normal’ classes.
As adults, we tend to make exercise ‘work’. Yes, we feel good when we’re done, but most of us don’t look at working out as inherently fun. We don’t exercise by playing games and doing all the things we did as kids that were fun and made us strong and healthy. We can compensate for this by making sure that at least some of our workouts require social interaction, whether it’s rec league sports, walking with a friend, or attending group exercise classes.
Your solo workouts do allow you to go into your own head, work through things mentally, and push yourself as an individual. Your group workouts engage you socially. You draw energy from others and impart energy to them. And there’s accountability involved. If you’re a regular, you can bet people will check in on you if you don’t show up.
I’m working now to restore some of my social exercise time with coronavirus restrictions. This morning I led my ‘regulars’ in a modified home workout on Zoom. It wasn’t an exact match to our Tue/Thu classes, but it was wonderful to see everyone’s faces and interact with them again.
I’d like to encourage you to find ways to connect socially while exercising, especially during coronavirus. Be creative in how you can do this while maintaining social distancing. Call a friend while you’re out walking. Skype and do a weight workout together. And don’t forget that any family members in your house are fair game too.
Stay healthy!
