Back to the gym

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bebeisfit
bebeisfit Posts: 951 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
59 F. I've been a member of my local gym for 15 years. Until March of 2020.

I still haven't gone back. And I know I need to do it.

I have a variety of bands and dumbells at home. But I'm inconsistent. I've tried many you tube videos and liked some of them but I'm not putting in the work.

I started walking a couple of miles with a friend a few days a week and that's nice but I don't work up a sweat.

I think it's the money. I know I waste that much on candy and snacks and picking up take out.

My body is stronger and leaner when I work out consistently. My food tends to be better as well. And my clothes look better.

Ugh..whats wrong with me?!

Replies

  • bebeisfit
    bebeisfit Posts: 951 Member
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    Oh. I am fully vaccinated as well as a good portion of my neighborhood. The gym still requires masks and social distancing.
  • smittybobitty917
    smittybobitty917 Posts: 19 Member
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    Nothing is wrong with you. Plenty of people are in the same boat. It's the hand that life has dealt us. How you want to play the hand is up to you.

    Having lost most of my strength and cardio capacity over the last year, I kept wishing I hadn't let myself slide so far. Like you, I started walking again just to get some base level fitness established. It wasn't challenging enough. I then did a few days of cardio in a week. The next week I added strength training and food logging again. It sucked. I was sore and hungry. This 2nd week I feel great and ready to reconquer the world.

    You've done it before. You know you can do it. Are you ready to take charge and get back to it?
  • bebeisfit
    bebeisfit Posts: 951 Member
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    You've done it before. You know you can do it. Are you ready to take charge and get back to it?[/quote]

    Yes!
  • pjayzfitness
    pjayzfitness Posts: 2 Member
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    You just have to go and start the habit back up. It happens to all of us. Once we are out of any habit, we replace it with new habits that may or may not be good for us. It's just the way our brains work. You'll get there. :)

    To help me retain some semblance of a work out routine, I bought a Total Gym (love it) but I do miss the heavy-duty equipment (Arc Trainer, Life Fitness Elliptical, Dip machine, etc.) at my proper gym (still closed).
  • dougii
    dougii Posts: 678 Member
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    I think most of us are in the same boat. I stopped going to the gym last year because the risk of covid on top of cancer treatment was just too great (and the doctors ordered me not to go as well). Now that I'm full vaccinated and treatments are over (and so far successful) I've started back on my every other day strength training regime and I must admit I feel great again! It is a shame that not everyone at the gym is vaccinated (or planning on it) and masks are not being worn, so I'm going at 5:30 am when there are very few of us there. You can do this!!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,511 Member
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    Your HABITUAL BEHAVIOR changed. And because many gyms closed down for a long duration of COVID, many gave up their memberships. Like anything else, if you quit honing the skill of anything you do, you'll go stale and have to RESTART. And restarting means NOT BEING in the shape you were before. And that's usually an ego thing. Gotta put that aside and KNOW that once you're back in the groove again, that you can return to the fitness you used to be in.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png
  • janicemlove
    janicemlove Posts: 435 Member
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    I went back, even with masks, and started working out with a personal trainer. I use the gym to keep my chronic back pain under control and after a year of no gym (and a freak fall) I found myself unable to walk over Christmas/NY and severely limping for the first couple of months of the year. I went to physical therapy for a few weeks and with PT's blessing started swimming and personal training. I made up my mind to do this even before being fully vaccinated (which I am now thankfully) because the pain was just too much and I could only work out so much in my apt. and WI winter.

    I stayed away due to autoimmune disease(s) and being at higher risk for complications with COVID.

    I share this because we are all just trying to survive a global pandemic and we are all coping the best we can.

    As we come out of survival mode we can start (re)developing these habits again. Thankfully it's summer and that makes things easier on some level (vit. D, longer daylight hours, generally happier, variety of fruits/veggies in season etc, tho YMMV).
  • chocolate_owl
    chocolate_owl Posts: 1,695 Member
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    Maybe it would help if you wrote out what your workouts would be. Before I started at the gym, I put my lifting plan into the JEFIT app, and I decided how many days I would lift and how many days I'd do cardio. Having a schedule staring me in the face instead of trying to find motivation to go do some nebulous *something* was a big help.
  • bebeisfit
    bebeisfit Posts: 951 Member
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    Thanks everyone. I did finally join on Friday and have gone each day. I am a lttle sore and it feels great!

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