On our recent cruise holiday one of the activities on board was roller skating, and I was very keen! It had been a long time since I put on a pair of roller skates, but I loved mine when I was younger. I used to spend hours going up and down the road both by myself and with friends.
We all enjoyed the roller skating on the cruise and I was surprised by how well I picked it up again. Mia also really enjoyed it. It took her a little while to pick up the knack but she was soon skating really well and was desperate to have some roller skates of her own. And at the same time I was thinking that I quite fancied having a pair too!
So we got home and treated ourselves to a pair of skates each. We bought these ones - United Skates Vibe Camo skates in pink and blue (affiliate link) and have been very pleased with them. I chose a larger size for Mia so that she doesn't grow out of them too soon and they have been a great fit. They are comfortable to wear and sturdy, and it looks as though it will be easy to replace the stoppers and wheels if they start to wear down.
We are lucky to live in a quiet cul-de-sac so Mia has been out most days by herself perfecting her technique and she's coming on brilliantly. I've also been out with her quite a few times and we've been having a great time skating around all the local streets. I've passed lots of ladies my age while out and about, some of whom I know from various child related things, and I like to think that they are looking enviously at me as I wobble past. Or more likely they are just amused!
Now that we've improved a bit my next step is to take us down to the seafront so that we can skate along the promenade. I want to find a quieter time, perhaps first thing in the morning or maybe we'll wait until later in the year when there aren't so many tourists. Also I've not been brave enough to go out without Mia yet, I think I might get even more people staring at me if I'm on my own!
I must admit that the main reason I exercise is to stay fit and healthy, not always because I particularly love it. But I do try to run outside often. At the moment I'm regularly managing three times a week, and this is one form of exercise that I can say that I enjoy, or at least I do enjoy the feeling I get when I've done it!
I'm not a competitive runner and I've only ever taken part in two organised charity runs. The furthest I've ever run in one go is just over 10 kilometres and my usual run is about half an hour or forty minutes which takes me about 5 kilometres. I probably could run a marathon if I put my mind to it and completed the training, but I just don't have the urge to push myself for it. I think that it would probably put me off running forever!
But out of all the different forms of exercise that I've tried over the years I keep coming back to running.
Some of the reasons that running works so well for me when it comes to exercise:
It's individual thing. I can go out when I feel like it and when I've got the time, I don't need to organise myself around others. I'm not competing with anyone else.
I can set myself goals and come up with challenges. For example running a certain distance in one go or getting out a particular number of times.
I can track my progress in various apps if I want to stay motivated. It's fun to look back and see a map of where I went and how quickly I managed a favourite route! I'm also currently playing Pikmin Bloom and I like getting out to grow my seedlings and pick up virtual fruit.
Photo credit Emma Simpson via Unsplash
I can fit it into my routine. At the moment I like to run first thing in the morning after a small breakfast, and then I'm done for the day.
I like exploring my local area. There are lots of new build estates nearby to have a nose around, as well as rural paths and a golf course if it hasn't been raining. I can get down to the sea if I fancy a longer run, or I can stop on the way back from school drop off to run along the promenade.
I don't need fancy equipment. I have some half decent trainers but the rest of my running kit comes from either the supermarkets, Decathlon or Amazon.
I feel really good afterwards and definitely like I've had a proper workout. I always head straight for a nice hot shower as soon as I get in, especially if it has been raining or cold!
I had never really been one for working out at home until the pandemic hit. I exercised regularly, but I went to the gym or for a run. When the gyms closed I started to look for alternative ways to exercise, and even though we are still members at the gym I've continued to workout at home as well. I like having that option, especially at this time of year when it's so dark and cold outside.
For exercising at home I still wear my exercise clothes, as I find that helps me to get into the right mindset. I don't buy expensive active wear though, I have several basic running tops from Decathlon that were less than £3 each, and I also buy bits from Amazon and the supermarkets.
I do think that it's important to wear shoes when working out indoors, and some exercises like a plank are very difficult if you are just in socks. I keep a specific pair of trainers for indoor workouts so I don't need to worry about them bringing dirt inside. But they don't need to be fancy ones that you might wear for running outdoors, they just need to have a bit of support and a sole with some grip.
I like to get my clothes ready the night before so I'm all ready to go. I also have in mind the exercise that I'm going to do the next day, whether that's a stint on the cross trainer or a selection of videos to work through.
Most of my indoor workouts are following a video on YouTube, and there are so many free ones to choose from. I'd recommend having a browse and trying out a few different styles to see what works best for you. I have a couple of playlists set up, for example shorter daily workouts and some longer cardio sessions.
A few of my favourite fitness video YouTube channels:
Rachel Gulotta Fitness - a great selection of cardio and strengthening workouts. The videos are very calming with gentle music and regular stretch breaks featuring beautiful nature scenes. You can get a great workout, especially from the longer HIIT and cardio ones. She also publishes regular daily and monthly workout schedules and challenges featuring different combinations of her videos so that you don't get stuck in a routine.
Joe Wicks - these are mainly HIIT workouts but there is plenty of choice with weights and targeting different parts of the body. Some of these are very tough so you need to take it easy at first!
Chloe Ting - another selection of very aesthetic videos, often targeting particular areas, for example the abs. A really good selection of videos with different lengths so you can make up your own workout.
For a time we also had a free trial of Apple Fitness+ which was also very good. I don't have an Apple watch myself, but my husband does, and I was still able to do the workouts. We enjoyed the trial but decided that we could find everything that we needed on YouTube, especially as we have a premium subscription so we are advert free.
Here are a couple of my favourite short workout videos:
Savage 10 Minute Leg Burner by Joe Wicks - it's only ten minutes long but the clue is in the title, it's not an easy one and will definitely leave you with wobbly legs!
10 Minute Lower Abs Workout by Rachel Gulotta - definitely an area of my body that I need to work on and this workout is brilliant. If you can manage the ten minutes every day then you can feel and see results within a couple of weeks.
I also have a few bits of exercise equipment. A yoga mat is probably the most important and they can be picked up for a few pounds from the supermarket. I also always have a small towel nearby. I recently purchased some resistance bands which I find really good for a different type of workout, and we have a few hand weights that we bought years ago.
I like to keep my exercise equipment neatly stored but also easily accessible. At the moment I keep the rolled mat and resistance band on the bookshelf in my study. Having it in plain sight makes it a good visual reminder to pull it out!
If you are serious about working out regularly at home then it might be tempting to invest in a larger piece of exercise equipment. Last year we bought a cross trainer which we are very pleased with and which is still in regular use. But we are lucky enough to have the space to use it comfortably and to store it out of the way.
It's important to think about the sort of exercise that you want to do and which can't be replicated elsewhere. For example I wouldn't buy a treadmill because I enjoy running outdoors for free. Think about how a larger piece of equipment would fit, both into the physical space that you have and into the time that you have available for exercise.
I hope that these tips were helpful if you were thinking about upping your exercise this year!
