I feel like I'm still one of the few who is still trying to get back into normalcy coming from the Pandemic. Ever since the lockdown happened, my life went from very active to full sedentary mode due to the working from home situation and family health struggles. That's almost 4 years!
Now that I have more time, one of my goals this year is to get back into Fitness. Pre-pandemic, I would say I was in my peak form considering the very active and enjoyable lifestyle I had. I was very much into sports: Tennis, Football, Freediving, Badminton. Initially attended Yoga classes; then HIIT as soon as a studio opened within my office building. Those were the days.
Creating Habits
I'm not getting any younger and in some ways, my body has been telling me that. Hence, it is really important to take care of it and prioritize health and fitness. Knowing myself as a creature of habit, it is important that I make healthy activities a part of my system.
1. Be Active Again
Trying to being active again, I started with playing tennis and badminton on weekends. My style of play has always been based on agility (chasing the ball). In one of my casual badminton games, I think the sudden burst in activities and explosive play eventually strained my knees for which bothered me for several weeks now. Just visited the doctor this morning and initial diagnosis points towards "Patellar Tendinitis". The good thing is that it is quite common, so I hope it can be managed well. Due to this, I'm scheduled for 6 Physical Therapy sessions, 2x a week for the next 3 weeks.
2. Monitor Weight
In terms of my weight, I used to be (pre-pandemic) on the borderline towards overweight as based on my Body Mass Index (BMI). For my height, it shows that I need to lose weight. My recent scales show that I'm officially overweight, at least for a few kilos. I sense it's really hard to lose weight with my current lifestyle especially with my diet (need to cut off on junk food). Really need to set discipline upon myself.
3. Go to a Gym
Proximity is key! Finally enrolled in a nearby 24/7 gym which is less than a kilometer away from home.
I'm not a "gym bro" as I've been used to just learning through group sessions and suck at DIY workourts. This time, I've hired a personal trainer for 20 sessions to guide me and hopefully I'll be able to workout independently in the future.
I bought my folding bike during the pandemic for 'last mile' travel, but haven't really used it that much. This gives me additional motivation to the gym since I can add more mileage to my bike. The gym's 24/7 access is also important to me as it won't give me any reason not to go to the gym.
4. Strengthen my Left (non-dominant side)
Already had 2 sessions with my trainer and I realize how weak my left is compared to my right. Understandably, my right has been my dominant side on my usual activities, so no surprise there. As I do more resistance training, I definitely need to workout my left more and in general start small in terms of the weights I'm handling. It really feels like starting from scratch. Hopefully, I can get into rhythm as soon as possible.