Staying active
My first week at home in Ohio this December, I had to remind myself to exercise: I wasn’t dancing for hours on end, walking aimlessly around cities, or hiking any mountains. However different it was day to day, movement had been a vital part of my travel experience; I was not training for anything specific nor close to leading a sedentary lifestyle.
It is a much more intentional endeavor to move my body now, especially as the temperatures drop far enough to discourage moving out from under a warm blanket. Whether at the climbing gym or on the exercise mat in my room, it is an effort to keep myself active in winter.
Instagram’s algorithm actually pointed me in the direction of my exercise-goal-turned-most-recent-obsession, calisthenics. These bodyweight exercises develop strength and flexibility in a straightforward way that doesn’t utilize typical gym equipment. It was inspiring to see people posting their progress and encouraging to know that with consistent work, I could train effectively to improve my mobility, flexibility, and strength. You just have to start somewhere!
This interest with calisthenics ties well with my broader passion of learning how the human body works. It reminds me of one of my favorite college classes, exercise physiology, that dove the effects of consistent training to achieve peak sports performance. I could always see myself as a physical therapist, personal trainer, sports nutritionist or something similar, working with athletes or people who want to get fit. Maybe a few months down the line, I will see this as a jumpstart into a fitness-related career.
And if I stick with calisthenics for years, I will totally be that woman doing impressive exercises and passing you on a difficult hike at an advanced age.
How to begin?
It’s easy to think about the future process when there’s a cycle and rhythm to maintain. But how to approach something new as a beginner? That is always the hardest step, when all the questions come through the floodgates.
What exercises or workout routine should you perform and how often? How can you be sure that the routine is fit for you? Should you seek personalized information or professional advice? Which brings us back to the basic question: where should you start?
Knowing the end goal can help figure that out. My first bodyweight exercise goals include improving my push ups and working towards pull ups, pistol squats, and handstands. I also took inventory of my current physical standing and imbalances, and developed a few less glamorous (but honestly more important) goals: increase mobility of my joints, strengthen the core, and fix postural issues.
It is hard to find the best way with the limited resource of only the World Wide Web at my fingertips. My approach starts with small, incremental steps to avoid overwhelming or overworking the body.
With purpose, next comes motivation.
Sticking with it
“Every time I get off my bed I’m moving around and stretching or trying to do hip mobility or push ups or something. My body today was asking for an easier day, wait that’s not true I did hip flexor and shoulder mobility… so after that I need rest (aka right now). But I want to keep training! I hope the drive stays, especially when my hours of work pick up.”
Jan 11, 2025. Excerpt from my journal
I’m excited to see these exercises pay off in my climbing. But, it isn’t sustainable to spend all waking hours of the day training a new and demanding sport. It can be a real challenge to limit myself with a new obsession and find balance in my lifestyle. As with any new activity, I find myself trending towards spending many hours experimenting in the beginning and quickly losing interest after a short period of time.
These goals sound great now, but how can I maintain my interest and stay driven over a period of time? What will happen when I’m tired from climbing or I lose the motivation to continue the routine? Or what if it goes the other way– I run myself off the deep end by doing too much, too soon.
How can I strike a balance between my life is calisthenics and I actually never want to do this again? How to reach the semi-enlightened state of: I am motivated to do this several times a week and am satisfied with the slow and steady progress I am achieving.
Reflection
I still don’t have the answers to all of these questions. I’m learning how to set a consistent routine, for the first time in quite a while as I settle back into life in Ohio. I can begin to overcome the process that leads to exhaustion, the all-in mentality that ends with illness or injury. Listen to the body. Set a reasonable routine and stick to it. Find your body’s limits and don’t overdo it. Let’s see if we can put that to the test!
Stay tuned for next week, where I talk candidly about a time that an obsession turned to overuse. Location: Colombia
