Being active in college if you are not playing a collegiate level, intramural, or club sport can be a challenge. Especially if you had been an athlete during high school. I had always played sports throughout my life up until college, and then my focus shifted to my academics. I didn’t have enough time to go to the gym everyday because I was spending my time doing schoolwork or was with my friends. Going from working out everyday during the week and having games/meets on the weekends to not doing any type of work out was challenging.
- YouTube
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Using YouTube to search the thousands and thousands of workout videos has made my life much easier. I used to be one of the people who hated going to the gym since I didn’t really know how to use the equipment or what to do with the dumbbells. Going there was intimidating, because I felt like I was the only one who had no idea what I was doing. The sports I’ve played my entire life never required any type of workout equipment to train (I did cross country running, skiing, and tennis). I am also more of a visual learner, so being able to watch the YouTuber actually do each excercise with me helped a lot.
- Your Own Schedule
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Choosing the time I could workout was always a challenge for me going to the gym. I would take into consideration the amount of time it took to get there and back, and I would think about the number of people who were usually at the gym during the time I wanted to be there. I didn’t enjoy going when it was crowded for several reasons and the extra travel time left me unmotivated. Working out at home helped to alleviate some of that and gave me more motivation to get it done. I was already there and it obviously isn’t crowded, so I couldn’t find a good reason not to do it!
- Length of Workout
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Going along with the time I chose to workout, I am also able to easily decide the length of each one. On the days I feel better, I try to workout for longer or do a couple different videos to maximize that time. During the days I feel a little less motivated, I choose shorter videos or even ones I have done in the past that I know are a bit easier. Being able to pick the length of time I workout for helps to keep me motivated and encourages me to actually get a workout in every day (even on the rest day I do a short stretching video) because I can do anything from 10 minute videos to more than an hour!
- Type or Style
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While it has only been a year or so since I’ve started using weights, I have always been more of a cardio lover when it comes to exercising. When I workout at home, I can easily choose which type or style of workout I want to do! I try to switch up the type of workout I do each day so I can give each part of my body a rest. Typically I’ll do arms, legs, cardio, abs, glutes, jump rope, and stretches separately during the week and mix up the order bi-weekly so I’m not doing the same thing every week.
- Sydney Cummings
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It has been a bit over a year since my friend introduced me to Sydney Cummings and I feel stronger than I ever have. I had talked to her about how I wanted to get back into working out but due to the pandemic I was unable to go to the gym so she suggested I try one of Sydney’s workouts. I fell in love with them and her short motivational speeches at the end of each workout immediately. Over the past year, I have felt more confident in myself and feel stronger in general after doing her workouts almost every single day. She posts a new workout to her channel on YouTube daily in the morning, so you don’t even have to come up with a workout plan yourself. She has hundreds to choose from and is very realistic about each workout itself, messing up and not cutting any of it out to look perfect like other fitness people on YouTube do. Go check her out!
I would strongly recommend working out from home if you haven’t already tried and that you try a few of Sydney Cummings’ workouts when you do! She will definitely help you find the motivation to workout if you need help finding it and has a wide variety to choose from!