Small Steps, Big Gains

June 21st was the day I decided to start small. Prior to that day, I had always had it in mind to begin a workout routine. I would make these elaborate workout plans in my head and dream of a version of me that actually followed through on the plans.

Every new month, I would make the plan and then set my alarm clock for 5am the next day. Then the new day would break, and I would mindlessly and aggressively switch the alarm and postpone it to the day after that.

This has been the case for years. Deep within me, I knew what the problem was, but I wasn’t ready to address it. But on the 21st of June, I decided that enough was enough.

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The version of me right now was not able to perform those intense routines I had in my head; I just wasn’t there yet. So I finally succumbed to what my head had been telling me from the get-go; I started small.

On the evening of the 21st, I laid my ass on the hard, cold floor in my room and proceeded to do ten leg raises. It was nothing major but was definitely a first step in the right direction, as opposed to no step at all.

I didn’t trust myself because I hadn’t built up the discipline to show up every day yet. So I made a vow to myself to keep it simple and to not talk about it with anyone.

I figured that the moment I started to overcomplicate it by planning to buy equipment or introducing other people’s opinions, it would tamper with the momentum I was trying to build.

So I stayed on the course; I committed to doing ten leg raises every evening and to see where that would take me. A week in, I increased it to three reps of ten leg raises and made it mornings and evenings.

I won’t lie, life threatened to get in the way, and I missed a few days, but I always came back. As July rolled around, I decided to download an exercise app to get a more detailed and curated workout plan.

I aimed to get one that focused strictly on no equipment home workouts. I successfully got one and transitioned into using the app instead. The exercises aimed at utilizing the ground and the wall as anchors for the various poses, which was great.

For example, the pose—skipping with no rope—was an amazing cardio routine that required me to jump up and down, as though I were skipping except without a rope. In this case, I was able to bypass the need for a jump rope.

In some of the routines that required a weight of some kind, I would use a large keg of water to stand in for dumbbells. In that way, I didn’t need to stack my house with a dumbbell; it was a very functional substitute as well.

The only exercise equipment I have in my possession is a jump rope I purchased a couple of years back, when I was into it. As for now, I focus on exercises that require no equipment.

I do though understand that there are exercises that would warrant the use of specific equipment that cannot be substituted, so I would suggest you purchase them but try to keep them as minimal as possible and to consider patronizing a gym.

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Thanks for reading!🤗

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