I’m not the heavy workout types. Haven’t done a hardcore workout in years. Just the bare minimum to get by. However, the quarantine has gone on for quite some time and it’s a golden opportunity to start something new and something productive. Working out was the first thing that came to mind and I decided to give myself the 21-day lockdown workout challenge.
I downloaded an app to guide me through simple, home workouts that don’t need equipment and set myself a 45-minute target each day. Now for someone who isn’t even used to 20-minute workouts, 45 minutes is quite a big jump. But it’s worth a shot and the evening of 25th May 2020 was Day 1 of this new system set for myself.
Now 45 minutes can pass by very quickly especially when you have 75-second breaks between exercises. However, it’s important to set aside a good part of that time towards warming up. You don’t want to be pushing your muscles when they aren’t warmed up and ready to take on the challenge of heavy exercising.
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Considering I picked an entire body workout schedule for my 21-day challenge, your warm-up needs to also be for your entire body. So, don’t hold back. Dedicate at least 12-15 minutes of your workout to warming up and this can include wrist stretching, knee, elbow, ankle and shoulder flexions, chest extensions and don’t leave out your back either. Several exercises with fewer reps should be good enough!
Now, coming to my main course. I was very skeptical of reaching that 45-minute target and set myself this schedule:
- Push ups – 8x
- Squats – 15x
- Leg raises – 12x
- Incline push ups – 8x
- Sumo squat – 15x
Looks easy right?! The challenge here however, was repeating the entire sequence of exercises thrice. Considering I haven’t been too physically active, this was quite an effort. Eventually, after huffing, puffing and sweating out a bucket, I decided to quit on Round 3, just skipping the sumo squats in the final set.
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It’s the most I’ve pushed myself in months and while I was out on the floor for 20 minutes after that workout, I must admit that it felt really good, the next morning too. I’m one day into my 21-day workout challenge and ended my session at 44:38 minutes. The point of this article was to share my 21-day journey and of course, encourage everyone reading to try the same!
Make use of your lockdown period and start working out. Stat slow and pick up the pace over the days. However, remember to maintain the right shape and form for all workouts as you don’t want to end up hurting yourself in the process of trying to do something productive. For more updates on this journey, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com.
