Staying In Shape During Quarantine

Surprisingly, one of the most difficult parts of the stay at home orders in Massachusetts (for me)  is that the gyms are closed. I'm used to cooking a meal every day, even though I love take out, and I don't get my nails done or have my brows waxed nearly enough so other than the gym, this quarantine has been an amazing time to spend with my kids helping them with their schoolwork, but...

I. Miss. The. Gym.

I said it. I year-ish ago I started a fitness journey that I figured would be a dead end like all the others but after learning to weight train, I really fell in love with being at the gym.  Going every night became a ritual and my pre-created workout plan (created and implemented on my ass by Jarred) kicked my butt and helped me feel strong so imagine how disappointed I was when all of a sudden, I couldn't go anymore.

I have enjoyed hiking with my kids and exploring the neighborhood, but not much feels as good as lifting over 200 pounds and having the people near you nod at your accomplishment. Additionally, the mental toll of not being able to work out was affecting me.  I needed that gym time to feel good about myself. I knew I needed to get some stuff into my new space if I wasn't going to take a dramatic nosedive with my weight and mental health.

Everyone else had the same idea because finding exercise equipment was almost impossible at first but thanks to Facebook Marketplace, Amazon, and Walmart (and a generous donation from an amazing friend), I was able to procure enough to feel the weights again.

The first thing I grabbed was a spin bike from Amazon. I knew I only had space for one big item and between a treadmill, elliptical, and spin bike, I knew I wanted the bike.  Of the three I feel like I get the best caloric output per mile on the bike. Amazon has some amazing rated bikes, and coupled with the Peloton App (which is currently free thanks to the pandemic!), you can have that spin experienece without the heavy cost of a Peloton.



I also knew I needed a weight bench and some weights. Knowing my favorite bench exercises are dumbell and bar presses, I knew I needed to find something with an incline, but again, Amazon offered all sorts of benches with varying capabilities and price tags.


The hardest part was finding weights! Walmart sells their weights for under a dollar a pound if you can find them in stock in store, but the online mark up has been crazy. The average on Facebook Marketplace is $2.50-$3 a pound as well and when I'm trying to get multiple pairs of dumbbells, it's just not cost effective. Add in a weight bar and weight plates and it would cost me a small fortune to finance. Thaaaaaaaankfully, I have an amazing friend who happened to have "too many weights" and dropped them off for me to use.

Having all the weights is great and I've been able to tweak Jarred's plans to still work for me but without knowing what to do, many people would stall.

I've been loving:
1. the Peloton App
2. The Fitbit App
3. Stephanie Sanzo
4. BeFit Performance

I ended up with a really great home gym set up to get me through the rest of this quarantine, but honestly, I can't wait to get back in the gym!

xo, Heather