What can I say – I’m a product of the 21st generation. I am who marketers direct their commercials to, I am who spoilers are leaked to, and I am who thrives off of any and everything pop culture and media driven. I weep during Grey’s Anatomy finales and Budweiser Clydesdales commercials alike, and analyze promos from Trident Gum to Cascade Dishwashing Soap for underlying sexist or racist innuendos. As a communication studies major, it’s in my blood.
You probably won’t meet another being who enjoys starting an entirely new show (no matter if it’s halfway through its first season or airing its 7th season finale episode) as much as I.
To sum it up: I watch a lot of TV. And I love it.
Yet, this poses multiple issues for me, such as setting me up to be in line as another product of our 21st generation – a part of America that is so attached to media that it forgets to take care of itself. As much as I love committing myself to a whole new cast of characters and drama, I hate how lazy it makes me feel. While the sound of starting an entirely new show makes my heart pound with excitement, the idea of sitting for multiple hours to do it almost gives the same organ a heart attack (and not from the drama within the show).
I’ve tried watching my shows while running on the treadmill or using the elliptical, but it never works out like I imagine it to. Multiple times I’ve found my swinging arms to catch my earphones and embarrassingly thrust my attached phone clanging to the floor, ripping the buds out of my ear. Or watching a funny show and catching myself laughing so hard that my knees fall weak and I almost collapse on the machine I am using.
These near death experiences (for both me and my phone) have caused me to rethink my options and seek other ways to make the most of my addiction to TV.
Hence – TV show workouts.
When I first stumbled onto one of these beauts, it was almost to smart to believe. Certain cues that would not only tell me when to exercise, but what exercise to do and how long / much of it? It was genius. Plus, it would keep me paying attention to small details in the show, looking for the next cue for my next exercise.
And so, I finally tried it. As of yesterday, I decided I was going to start watching Revenge, a show on ABC about a young woman who decides to destroy the lives of everyone who had once almost destroyed hers, and who had already destroyed her father’s. After watching the Pilot last night, I dubbed the show incredibly addicting and also incredibly suitable for a TV workout.
After a quick search online, I found a workout from a blog called whohastimeforthegym. This blog also has other popular TV shows for workouts as well, like Modern Family and Glee. While there were a few parts in the show that didn’t have any of the cues going on, I found that for the most part, I was fairly busy with the cues that did happen.
If anything, I would add a few more exercises with some cues in order to keep it more consistent and avoidant of the breaks I sometimes experienced.
These TV workouts are fairly popular, so if you find yourself watching more TV than not, have a quick Google search on one of your favorite shows and more likely than not, someone has probably already made a workout for your show!
Here is the one I used for Revenge, found here:
- High knees for the intro and all commercials
- 15 fire hydrants each side for the quote in the beginning and the end
- 15 pushup pulses whenever Victoria looks over at David/Amanda/Emily’s house
- 20 squats whenever Amanda has a blank yet profound look off into space
- 20 rows whenever Victoria gives her “bitchy” smile
- 15 mountain climbers whenever the double infinity symbol is seen (tattoo, engraving, box)
- 20 side lying leg raises (for each side) whenever David Clarke’s name is mentioned
- 30 second plank whenever Amanda crosses someone’s picture out
- 15 lunges whenever there is a flashback
- 15 second side plank (for each side) when we see the ocean title scene
If I were to add a few, I would add:
- 15 double leg hip bridges whenever Nolan is watching something he videoed or is videoing something (including himself)
- 10 jump squats whenever a new enemy of Emily’s is revealed to you
- 15 overhead presses whenever Ashley speaks to Victoria about an event
- 20 crunches whenever Nolan bothers/hangs out with Jack
- 10 arm punches with dumbbells whenever Ashley complains about her job
- 60 seconds jumping jacks whenever Frank helps the Graysons
- 20 bicycles whenever Jack is one-upped by Daniel or Jack thinks about Emily
Also published on: CST 363 News