Making the Most ... by Exercise?
We're all struggling with less activity.
I guess I need to move a little more.
I'm not a big exercise guy. I never liked going to the gym or working out or running just for the fun of it. It was never, well, fun.
I like sports. I played hockey twice a week this winter, which was fantastic. I coach school basketball. That's fun.
Any "working out" I do is merely for one reason: To make me better at hockey. Faster skating. But it's pretty rare. Like commercials during Netflix. Like unopened bags of cookies in my cupboard right now.
But then I saw the Connor McDavid Workout...
I could be fast like Connor!
Knowing that I needed to do something, and that hockey season is only 5 months away (really?), I decided to try. I'm thankful that it doesn't include any fancy gym equipment, because I don't have any, and I don't know how to use it anyway. Gyms look like they were put together by NASA these days. Keep it simple.
Here's the routine.
-10 x body weight squats
Easy. I've always had good legs. Lots of power. My wife calls them twigs, but they're deceptively strong. Squats are easy.
-45 second wall-sit
I remember these from gym class. I remember not liking them in gym class, but I do them. Around 20 seconds my legs start to burn. After 30 seconds I give up. Save energy for later.
-10 x push ups
Legs: Good. Arms: Bad. "Upper body strength" is an oxymoron for me. I'm terrible at push ups. I could do 10 ... but not more than once. I barter down do 8.
-30 second split squat hold on each leg
I have to look this one up. It turns out to be harder than I thought. I manage 30 seconds on each leg, legs on fire by the end. My daughter laughs at my form.
I made it.
-Repeat this set 4x.
I stagger through 3 sets of my reduced numbers. Hey - Connor wasn't built in a day. Subconsiously I know Connor probably does this as a warm up, but I push this voice aside and pat myself on the back. My shoulders and some muscle in front of my shoulders hurt as I do this, but I'm proud of myself.
Two hours later everything begins to stiffen up. Pain begins to set in. Ouch.
Day 1 finished.
The key is to continue each day. It's only 15 minutes (says Connor). Make it a daily routine.
I don't know if I'll ever enjoy exercise. I could play team sports every day. But working out doesn't appeal to me. Unfortunately, team sports are out of the question right now.
I'm fortunate to live in the country. I can walk outside my house and not see a person for hours. There's a beautiful river 500 metres away from my door. I have an idea of making a running trail along the river - it's more interesting than road running, and it would be absolutely beautiful. The catch: I would need to run it every day to "make" a trail. I literally have to beat the trail into the ground with my feet, which takes daily activity.
Honestly, I don't know if it will happen. There's snow outside still. I have two weeks to contemplate it. Maybe I'll be more excited when it warms up. Maybe I'll be less excited.
I also want to build a garden and a fire pit. That's more my interest. Digging and moving rocks is exercise too. That's fine.
Today: I need to stretch out my aching legs. Day 2 of Becoming Like Connor.
I'm not a big exercise guy. I never liked going to the gym or working out or running just for the fun of it. It was never, well, fun.
I like sports. I played hockey twice a week this winter, which was fantastic. I coach school basketball. That's fun.
Any "working out" I do is merely for one reason: To make me better at hockey. Faster skating. But it's pretty rare. Like commercials during Netflix. Like unopened bags of cookies in my cupboard right now.
But then I saw the Connor McDavid Workout...
I could be fast like Connor!
Knowing that I needed to do something, and that hockey season is only 5 months away (really?), I decided to try. I'm thankful that it doesn't include any fancy gym equipment, because I don't have any, and I don't know how to use it anyway. Gyms look like they were put together by NASA these days. Keep it simple.
Here's the routine.
-10 x body weight squats
Easy. I've always had good legs. Lots of power. My wife calls them twigs, but they're deceptively strong. Squats are easy.
-45 second wall-sit
I remember these from gym class. I remember not liking them in gym class, but I do them. Around 20 seconds my legs start to burn. After 30 seconds I give up. Save energy for later.
-10 x push ups
Legs: Good. Arms: Bad. "Upper body strength" is an oxymoron for me. I'm terrible at push ups. I could do 10 ... but not more than once. I barter down do 8.
-30 second split squat hold on each leg
I have to look this one up. It turns out to be harder than I thought. I manage 30 seconds on each leg, legs on fire by the end. My daughter laughs at my form.
I made it.
-Repeat this set 4x.
I stagger through 3 sets of my reduced numbers. Hey - Connor wasn't built in a day. Subconsiously I know Connor probably does this as a warm up, but I push this voice aside and pat myself on the back. My shoulders and some muscle in front of my shoulders hurt as I do this, but I'm proud of myself.
Two hours later everything begins to stiffen up. Pain begins to set in. Ouch.
Day 1 finished.
The key is to continue each day. It's only 15 minutes (says Connor). Make it a daily routine.
I don't know if I'll ever enjoy exercise. I could play team sports every day. But working out doesn't appeal to me. Unfortunately, team sports are out of the question right now.
I'm fortunate to live in the country. I can walk outside my house and not see a person for hours. There's a beautiful river 500 metres away from my door. I have an idea of making a running trail along the river - it's more interesting than road running, and it would be absolutely beautiful. The catch: I would need to run it every day to "make" a trail. I literally have to beat the trail into the ground with my feet, which takes daily activity.
Honestly, I don't know if it will happen. There's snow outside still. I have two weeks to contemplate it. Maybe I'll be more excited when it warms up. Maybe I'll be less excited.
I also want to build a garden and a fire pit. That's more my interest. Digging and moving rocks is exercise too. That's fine.
Today: I need to stretch out my aching legs. Day 2 of Becoming Like Connor.
Comments
Post a Comment