I’m loving it! As a person with lingering aches from traffic accidents (two bad ones and a minor one over the past 20+ years), it fills my needs.
If you’ve been reading my blog, you know I pursue assorted sports. The sports may vary but the passion is always there. Some days I don’t have time for it. Most of the time, that activity resembles good old-fashioned cardio and social time.
For recovery and improvement of my old injuries, however, a more focused approach is needed.
Here’s the path I followed over the past 10 years or so, and where I’ve ended up. My story may help you decide your next fitness moves.
I got bored of physiotherapy
I still go now and then for massage and assessment, and updates to my physiotherapy routines. It got pricey once the insurance company (ICBC here in British Columbia) stopped paying for it.
My beef years ago was that most of the exercises are found in yoga routines. I got better results by just doing yoga – one move after another, by myself at home following a book or a TV program.
Years ago I tried Daily Yoga for a year (or was it two?)
I got good results. My go-to workout was the “hip opener” program. I still like that one. My hip functions a lot better than it might have without a dedicated program to my hips.
Nowadays I still do that one because I sit at a desk all day on work days. Usually when doing yoga or any other fitness around the house, my dad starts doing the moves too. We get double benefits from my fitness tools.
Then I let my fitness trainer credential lapse AND Apple Fitness too!
I let my Apple Fitness expire a few months ago to see if I’d miss it. Surely I do, but with summer here, I’m actually quite busy with sports and outdoor activity.
Regarding my fitness trainer certificate, I didn’t need it. I don’t train clients and my work in in technology so I truly wasn’t getting value from the continuing education that’s required. I ran out of continuing education I was interested in, you might say. My creds only offered very light-level awareness of injury and medical conditions (I have diabetes) and I was frustrated about not being able to share personal diabetes stories with the public because it’s not in a fitness trainer’s scope of practice…blah blah blah.
Those two absences save me a lot of money now. I will likely (very likely) bring Apple Fitness back as soon as there’s two rainy days in a row. That’s just a prediction. I will be itching to move more, and Apple Fitness is the BEST motivating, action-heavy cardio app I’ve found, and of course everything gets recorded on my Apple Watch.
Meanwhile, sports and summer.
My latest routines for fitness are NOT lapsing
Here’s what I actually do in a typical week:
- One bike ride
- One session with Jungle Gym XT or PTP Fitness resistance bands/tubing/door mounts, or workout at a playground
- One skipping rope session, or many
- Footbag practice at least 3x/week – and I’m getting way better at the balance and coordination finally!
- Two workouts with handweights covering whole-body exercises
- Daily Yoga app almost every day, exploring the different routines at this point
I use yoga as an accessible alternative to most of my physiotherapy exercises which are virtually identical. Yoga routines in the Daily Yoga app just put it all together and get it done. Everything else just feels easier since bringing yoga back to the forefront, alongside a variety of sports.
I gained a few pounds and felt sluggish about a month ago, which sparked my attention on mind-body awareness and yoga – then I renewed my Daily Yoga app, and the sports and other exercise literally feels easier without bringing on the muchies or nap time.
Let me know if any of this sounds similar or very different from your routines this summer! Leave a comment below. Add questions if you have them, too.