Metro Manila Community Quarantine - Day 340
I was catching up with my finances and paying off bills today and noted that I had once again paid my membership for Anytime Fitness. I had signed up for the gym in January last year and was pretty excited about the whole fitness effort. But once then community quarantine began on 15 March, going to the gym was no longer a safe option. However I did keep up with my workouts since the Nike Training Club app that I follow adapts your workout plan to available equipment, thus I've mostly been doing bodyweight exercises over the course of the past year.
I see a lot more folks posting on social media that they've gone back to the gym and I can't fault them for that. Others have a greater focus on equipment for their workout routines and have different fitness goals. My weight loss efforts still seem to work well with bodyweight stuff and I'm still starting to see some muscular definition in my arms, so I'm not severely limiting myself.
I'm still not 100% comfy with going back to the gym, which is starting to feel like me being more paranoid than rational, but who knows, really? But paying for my membership still feels like the more prudent option since at least my contract is running again and I'm not throwing away P500 a month just to keep my account frozen and then still be obligated to paying the rest of my contract term later on. It's weird logic, but that's how it plays out in my head.
Realistically, what am I missing out on? The Nike Training Club app's Lean Fit plan does provide options for using kettlebells, medicine balls, and even plyo boxes, which I obviously don't have access to at home. I had yet to work up to the plyo box exercises pre-quarantine since I was still getting used to the routines at that time. And with the sort of workouts I'd do, I'd need to make use of the functional fitness area of the gym, and I'm not 100% how they keep that carpeted area sanitized plus how can one effectively maintain social distancing from other people in the same workout area.
There is also an equipment-dependent workout plan that I was planning to explore eventually and that really needs a full gym to support it. My weight loss has slowed in recent months and I have been feeling a little frustrated at the pacing, but I just keep at it and try to believe in the process. Doing a workout routine like this at the gym would obviously have some benefit, plus additional walks to and from the gym would greatly add to my step count to boot.
On the other side, working out at home is super convenient, especially during the workweek. So even when I wake up a little later than ideal, I can still squeeze a workout in before I clock in for shift versus if I needed to get to the gym first. I could also revisit jogging around BGC as additional cardio, although being outdoors in general still stresses me out a bit. That still wouldn't make better use of my gym membership, but it's something to add a bit more variety to my workout efforts.
I really don't know at this point. And for as long as I remain unsure, I err on the side of caution and continue with my home-based workouts indefinitely.
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