Whenever winter comes, I always end up way more lethargic and less active than I should be - mostly because of work, burnout, and seasonal despression... so I tried to pre-emptively schedule parts my life for the next few months.
(Mostly, I need to feel like I'm being productive and getting something or another done, or at least "being responsible" -- otherwise I start feeling really bad about myself.)
This also includes... exercising regularly! I'm actually bad with exercising: I like walking around aimlessly a lot, but not when I have to get bundled up. I used to walk around a mall when I lived near one, but... I moved, so I can't do that anymore o(￣┰￣*)ゞ;;
So... I needed alternatives!
Trying to figure out an exercise plan...
Over the years, I've sort of figured myself out really well and have been trying to... sort of game how my brain works, I guess? I'm both really good at being consistent, but I'm also really inconsistent!
To summarize myself:
I like having routine times/days to do certain things! I can keep to those well most of the time.
I get bored of doing the same thing all the time! If the task varies enough, then it's fine.
This one's a bit weirder to explain, but as an example: drawing chibis vs. fullbodies are different to me, but drawing chibis of different characters wears on me quickly.
I need a low bar of entry! If something has too many 'steps' before it, I'll eventually end up struggling to start.
In the past, I used to play Ring Fit Adventure for exercise, and I really liked it! But also setting it up is a lot of steps that I can't handle sometimes. Turning on my Switch (and sometimes my PC), changing clothes, putting out my yoga mat, putting on shoes, etc. etc. -- it adds up.
If I skip a routine once, it's easy for me to continue skipping it.
This one is mostly to do with my own mindset with regards to "breaking streaks" and stuff. "If I miss a day, then I might as well let my streak stay broken until I restart it 'properly'!" is how my brain likes to work. (This is also how I get myself to stop playing gacha games with dailies.)
... So with all of this in mind, I've tried to figure out a system that works for me!
The plan!
I've been keeping this up for a week and I think it's been going pretty well... and writing it here will also probably keep me focused on it. There's something contractual about writing things down to me.
The plan is mostly simple: Every day, I'll do some form of exercise at scheduled times (more or less).
I have a little monthly planner, and if I exercise, I put a stamp in it! There's no reward for this (... yet?) because I mostly just like stamps.
Aside from that general idea, there's a lot of small points that I have:
On days when I commute, then the exercise is walking around. I can go lighter on these days and it's okay, since I'm out and about all day anyways. And I'm walking around carrying a laptop and stuff, so they're actually weighted walks.
On days when I don't commute: I exercises at 5:15PM (weekdays) or noon (weekends).
Weekdays are "after my work hours are over". This also sort of forces me to stay on track with work stuff to some degree.
Weekends are "early enough that I'll get out of bed, but late enough that I won't want to go back to sleep".
I have alarms set for these, just in case I lose track of time or forget!
The exercise can be anything, but it should be at least 5 minutes (ideally more than 10 minutes). Some options I've decided on:
Ring Fit Adventure
Structured exercise to music (e.g. stuff like MadFit's dance workouts)
Unstructured exercise to music (i.e. playing music and then doing... whatever: squats, lunges, push-ups, whatever!
Radio calisthenics or tai-chi (... I want to live the Asian auntie life.)
... Or just straight up going for walks or something!
I think this sort of approach works best for me since I don't have any other external pressure or goals for it.
(... Actual consequential deadlines would be helpful but I don't think that actually works or is healthy for me with regards to exercising! I'm someone who's good at studying for tests or doing things for deadlines, so this is... a struggle for me.)
Experience so far ლ(╹◡╹ლ)
To be honest, I really like doing exercise to music! It helps me exercise longer, because I like listening to the end of a song or whatever.
Dance workouts are really nice to me, since it forces me to do motions that I wouldn't normally choose to do. I'm really bad at them, but I think doing something badly is better than not doing anything at all... so it's OK! And I think I'm getting better, little by little?
Unstructured exercise is also good for me when I'm feeling too tired to do something actually strenuous. This has largely been me trying to do push-ups (usually wall push-ups) or squats and lunges. I hate squats, but it's also easy to do. (。_。)... When I'm really lazy, I can just do leg raises or something while lying in bed, and that'll count as long as I'm doing it long enough! Music helps prevent me from stopping early.
The alarms and regular schedule are also helpful for me! I think it's important for exercise to be a "daily" thing for me, so even if I miss one day I'll have to do it the next. If it was every other day, missing a day would make me not exercise 3 days in a row... which is bad for me.
(It also means I have to pace myself - I care less about "exercising a lot at once" and more about "exercising regularly"!)
A bit of a funny story: the other day, I forgot I had an alarm for noon and went on a short walk to buy stuff at like 11:30AM..
... and then my alarm went off after I left the store.（；´д｀)
The walk was way too short for me to consider it 'enough' as exercise, but I was carrying a pack of mini ginger ales: lightweight, but not too light! And so... I decided to do bicep curls with it while walking back! That was funny, and it worked well I think.
It's a 10 minute walk. My arms are a bit sore. (I'm very weak lol.)
But it's sort of nice to realize that I don't really need equipment or anything? I can just do something, and that's enough.
Goals?
I don't actually have many solid goals from this. I just know that exercising regularly is something I should be forcing myself to do, even if I don't really like it that much.
There are things that I'd like with regards to my body (muscle, strength, weight, etc.) but... I don't actually want to make set goals for myself? I think that would stress me out, and if I don't reach them by a certain deadline, I'll burn out after the deadline.
I also don't think it's healthy for me to obsess over certain goals, since I know I might behave in unhealthy ways to achieve them. So I'm just avoiding that for the most part.
... Although... I think the only "goal" I might have is to actually be better at squats. I hate them a lot, so I want them to hurt less lol.