How I Organize My Workouts... In Quarantine

In the before times, I loved staying fit… but I knew I needed a lot of structure to do it. I organized my fitness routine around two core principles: I had to pay in advance so that skipping felt like a huge loss, and I had to be in public so I could feel the energy of other people and use that to motivate myself.

What did that look like in practice? I had personal training sessions twice a week at a gym, a private pilates class once a week, and dance cardio and adult ballet classes that required advance registration whenever I had the extra time.

And if you had asked me in February, I would have told you that the very idea of working out from home sounded depressing.

Turns out the joke was on me, because by mid March the shelter in place order arrived in San Francisco and I was left with literally no other options!

I gave myself a week or so to wallow in all the feelings that came with starting lockdown and feeling totally adrift. I spent a lot of time on video with friends, I didn’t do very much work, and I definitely did not work out.

But then I realized that I missed feeling strong every day, and that daily exercise was probably going to help with the mental challenges of quarantine. So, I went back to one of my core principles of working out: I have to pay in advance so that skipping a workout feels like a huge loss. And I added another one: it should need as little equipment as possible, because I really don’t want to devote space in my smallish house to a comprehensive home gym!

I tried a bunch of different studios and workouts. Some I did once or twice, some religiously. No matter what, I plan my workout schedule for the week every Sunday, committing to and paying for each class in advance so that my incentives are appropriately aligned.

My preferences for a workout? I need to be sweaty and panting by the end. I don’t like to be yelled at, but I also want to be taken seriously as a person who’s always trying to get stronger. I love to dance, and I love learning new skills and perfecting old ones. I appreciate positive vibes and mindfulness but I don’t really love a lot of spirituality with my sweat.

Here are some of the workouts I’ve tried and loved during lockdown!

• LA-based MMA fighter Gillian Ashdown was offering classes incorporating pilates and basic jiu-jitsu moves. She doesn’t do them anymore, but follow her on Instagram since she may be coming out with new stuff soon.

• Oakland’s womxn-only fitness studio Hipline offers a wide variety of dance and fitness classes both live and on demand. If you want to get free and shake your booty and feel love, this is for you!

• Seattle based yoga teacher Abiola Akanni is the founder of Trap Vinyasa, a unique class incorporating yoga, kickboxing, and dance elements. You will twerk, and it will make sense. Plus, your class fees go back into Abiola’s work to bring yoga to communities that usually don’t have access.

• San Francisco based TheDrop is a brand new online-only fitness company offering live bootcamp, yoga, and cardio dance classes. I followed founder Devi from another SF studio because her vibe is just so awesome and she makes the routines easy enough to follow and complex enough to be interesting.

• The San Francisco Ballet offers wonderful adult ballet classes live online. If you want to relive your childhood ballerina dreams, this is for you - it’s real ballet barre with technique notes, taught by SF Ballet masters!

• Bay Area based trainer Ryan Allen offers Lifted, a daily one hour hit of all the highlights: warm up, HIIT intervals, stretching, and guided meditation. I’ve done this nearly 5 days a week throughout quarantine and it just keeps me sane. Knowledge of obscure 80’s dance hits and recent Drag Race episodes a plus!

Just like anything else in life, working out is easier and less stressful when you get organized and make a plan. What classes and workouts have you been loving during quarantine?

LMW