My Workout Got Stale So I Changed it Up
In the past three weeks I’ve thrown myself into the fire in an effort to change up my fitness game. Just straight strength training was getting boring so I started looking for new training modalities. I had a few in mind that I had been thinking about for months and never acted on. So over the last few weeks as my motivation to go to the gym wained, and I found myself just going through the motions of a workout, I finally decided to change things up. And this week in particular I found myself in 3 very different forms of exercise.
Handstand and mobility
Hight Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
Kickboxing
The handstand class was at a place called ApeCo Movement School. As the name suggests the studio focuses on getting back to your primal roots by focusing on movement through all planes of motion. Classes focus on things like mobility, light acrobatics, and fun things like handstands. They also emphasize building relationships and community. Each class you’re paired up with at least one other person and you help guide each other through the movements. It’s a funky class with a style that’s way out of my comfort zone.
Take this week’s warm up as an example to help explain. The whole class started by laying on the floor. We pretended the floor was covered in paint and we had to twist, turn, and roll our bodies around to make sure that every inch of us was covered in paint.
The HIIT class (called Stations) was at a new gym that opened by me called The EPOC Experience. EPOC, I found out, refers to excess-post exercise oxygen consumption, which is the measurable increase in oxygen consumption and metabolism that happens after a high intensity workout. The class consists of 5 circuits, 2 - 4 exercises per, aimed at jacking up your heart rate (think sprinting on the treadmill for 60 seconds followed by 5 burpees, repeated for 9 minutes). It’s been a long time since I’ve sustained such a high intensity effort for 60 minutes, and this class kicked my ass.
The kickboxing class was at mixed martial arts school called Easton MMA. They teach kickboxing, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Entry level people like me can start in kickboxing before moving to more advanced modalities. It’s been years since I’ve hit a bag and it felt so good to unload for an hour. If you’ve never really punched, kicked, kneed, and elbowed a punching bag before, don’t waste anymore time. Find a gym and do it. There is no better way to relieve tension and stress. There is also no better way to build confidence.
So, what’s the point?
I’m always amazed by the nuances of movement whenever I try something new, or revisit something old. Each modality requires something slightly different of your mind and body if you want to be successful. Sometimes the hard part is what you expect it to be, like at the HIIT class at EPOC. I knew walking into that class that I’d been ignoring my cardio for over a year and that this class was going to kick my ass, so I just put my head down and powered through.
But at ApeCo the hard part for me isn’t the physical and mental demands of the handstand exercises (although for sure they are not easy), it’s getting comfortable allowing my body to move freely through space while in the presence of people I don’t know, all without letting my thoughts interrupt and stop me. And at Easton I walked in wondering how I’d fare on the bag in a 60 minute kickboxing class having not hit a bag for over 5 years. But it turns out that wasn’t the difficult part. The challenge was ignoring the rug burn on my knee from glancing blows on the bag and the blister on my foot that developed early in class from pivoting and driving through punches.
I’ve been able to sustain my fitness practice for over 20 years because I’m always looking for something new to jump into when my routine gets stale and never giving into that voice that says “don’t do it.” I look for what’s going to challenge me physically, force me to learn, and make me uncomfortable. Because those are the things that keep interest. And each one of these classes check all of those boxes.
If it doesn’t challenge you it doesn’t change you.
I know that right now my cardio is not where it needs to be if I want to leave HIIT class feeling anything but dead. That if I want to excel at the movement school I need to get over my fear of being uncomfortable moving in unorthodox patterns. And that if I keep kickboxing my toes and knees will form callouses to protect me. I know that while I’m struggling right now, that all of those things will only happen if I just keep going.
I also know that I’ll be able to take pieces of what I learn from each class and incorporate them into my routine going forward, and that the endurance, callouses, and body awareness I develop will serve my practice for years to come.