Oh no. Coronavirus has effectively shut down almost every facet of life including the gym. As a health-conscious person since elementary school, the shut down had me scrambling for ideas to keep my ass in shape. I’m sure that some common gym folk is simply waiting this out on the sidelines. That is the worst thing you can do especially when there is a virus wreaking havoc on our immune systems. Here is how I am currently doing to adjust to life without a gym.
(Disclaimer – I am not a certified athletic trainer. Any fitness advice in this article has worked for me and may not work for you. Use your judgment)
The Most Natural Way to Stay in Shape – Body Weight Exercises
I cannot stand the idea of a person who is “muscle loaded on muscle” being considered in shape. In my opinion, they’re not! Ask them to run 1-2 miles and what they do is probably collapse to the ground from a heart attack. Yeah, they can deadlift the entire gym but when do you need to do that in real life? The most primitive humans are shredded with lean muscles. They ran and did bodyweight exercises (not really – most hunted animals twice their size).
When I was a freshman in high school, I was a skinny dude weight 150 lbs soakin’ wet. I needed to add strength and weight which I did by eating and doing pushups, squats, and calf raises. When Sophomore year rolled around I weighed around 180 lbs. Bodyweight exercises have always been dear to my heart and are the most cost-efficient way to work out in my opinion.
Stay in Shape Option #1 – Marine Raiders Workout
You probably could have guessed it if you’ve been following me. Where do I look for inspiration most of the time? The military. This time I looked to the badass Marine Raiders. They have a grueling selection process just like most special operations units have. However, they were nice enough to leave a workout program to help prospective Marine prepare themselves for the things to happen during their selection process.
This workout gives you various plans to activate your core muscles, target your whole body, build strength by rucking and burn your lungs swimming. I’ve been doing the core and the whole body workouts. They work! I always finish with a decent sweat going and muscles completely smoked! The total body workout is essentially doing a Murph which is not easy. My advice would be to know your body limits and don’t expect to be crushing every workout listed on day one. Build up to it.
I want to try the Ruck plan but I don’t have a ruck as of yet. I will update once I do purchase a ruck.
Option #2 – Ray Lewis’s Deck of Cards Workout
If you are looking for a little more flexibility for your workout, this might be your choice. Former Baltimore Ravens legend Ray Lewis used this workout to build strength.
All you need is a deck of cards. Ray Lewis’s version has you doing the number of pushups the card you draw is worth. So if you draw a four, you do four pushups. After you finish all the cards, you reshuffle and do it again switching up the exercise.
I did it a little differently. My version works by each suit being a different exercise. When you draw a card you have to do the number of reps valued by the card in correspondence to the exercise the suit represents. Also, Juniors, Queens and Kings represent 11,12, and 13. Aces are 25 reps. I threw out the joker cards. This is a breakdown of the reps by exercise I did:
- Spades – Squats (116 total reps)
- Hearts – Pull-Ups (116 total reps)
- Diamonds – Diamond Pushups (116 total reps)
- Clubs – Crunches (116 total reps)
You can go ahead and change up the exercises for whatever your targeting, whether it’s lower body, upper body or full body. There is also a sense of unpredictability because you can draw cards back to back that are the same exercise that can really test your muscle endurance. This workout is great for changing things up and building strength.
Option #3 – Run for Your Life
I hate cardio. I always disliked running. Then I learned to love it. There is no better exercise out there than running. You just need a good pair of running shoes, some music, and your thoughts.
When I go run, I aim to run a full 60 minutes. Using a set distance as a goal can be counterproductive in my opinion. Your body needs to be pushed to its limit to achieve the benefits of running. If you do use distance as a goal marker, my best advice would be to break your distance record.
Final Thoughts
It is important to keep yourself in shape while so many of us are stuck at home. Find a workout that you enjoy and stick to it. I really would like to know what other workouts people are doing out there. Let me know!
