In March 2020 Australia went into lockdown, businesses were shut down, ours included and we had to adapt, so we took our members online or outdoors. It seems so long ago now, and not only did we survive it, but we thrived and came out stronger.
Fast forward to July 2021 and we are back in lockdown but this time things are a little different, I can’t leave my area as it has been labelled a hotspot, which becomes a problem due to the fact Live Well is in a different local government area (LGA). Previously I had been able to travel to the studio and train people online or in the park nearby, this time around I had only set a few members up online due to their inability to travel further than the 10km distance and preference to train outdoors along with the expectation that the magnitude of the current lockdown wouldn’t exceed last year.
How we were wrong.
Now I had to personally adapt as my routine was now well and truly incompatible with what I am used to.
Lucky last year taught me a lot of lessons.
When Monday came around nothing changed, I woke up at 5:30 am, made a coffee and waited for it to kick in before going out to our home gym and having a workout and run. I then had the same breakfast like any other day, did an online PT session and had a meeting.
My goal was to maintain as much of a routine as I could and supplement the rest of the day with tasks to help support Live Well. To do this I set up an app on my phone that times tasks to make sure I was giving Live Well the time needed, I also continued to use my diary and wrote out my tasks just like I would at work.
My workouts haven’t changed, and I understand a lot of people don’t have access to their own home gym, but it wasn’t luck that built it, more a desire to save time and money over many years than a reaction to COVID-19. Training at home doesn’t require motivation, it requires habits built over years, and this also applies to exercise in general, if you find you aren’t in a routine start with the smallest and easiest form of exercise, walking. Go for as many walks as you possibly can no matter how small, and as you build the habit of walking you will increase the distance. On the walk you can then throw in some stairs, maybe some squats or push-ups on a bench or fence. Every little bit of exercise is always better than nothing at all.
My food did change, but not in a bad way. I was able to sit down and have dinner with my wife every night, something we generally only do 4 nights a week. We stuck to the basics, always had a protein source in there ranging from meatballs, steak, salmon, to our traditional hamburger night that always happens on Thursday. There was a carb source in the form of brown rice or potatoes, and we had either fresh homemade salads or steamed vegetables. Simplicity was key, especially since we were getting all our groceries delivered, we didn’t want to complicate our night times with elaborate meals.
Lastly, my mindset stayed the same, there are millions of other people worse off than me right now. I have a roof over my head, a job that will be there when the restrictions lift and my wife and I are both healthy, that’s all I could ask for so I focused on what I can control. By continuing with my routine which I slightly modified and building a few new habits along the way I was able to keep a positive headspace instead of feeling like I need to start all over and throw away all the hard work that led to this moment. In my free time, I returned to gardening as it got me outdoors and in the sun, I donated plasma because I have plenty of it and I’m happy to share it and I gave up my Xbox as I knew that in the long run playing games would not benefit myself, my family or my job as it would take away time better spent elsewhere and draw me into a world where I thought I was progressing but in fact, it is a meaningless win.
Every decision we make and don’t make leads you to the point you are at now and waiting for the best time may never come and an opportunity is lost. Make a move that will lead you towards the direction you want to be in a year from now and you won’t regret it.
