I'm a sucker for learning how the people I follow do the things they do, so every once in a while, I like to share the tools I use to stay organized, or fit, or anything else. Today, I thought I'd share the couple of apps and workout tools I use to keep my mind and body aligned, especially now that the gyms are restricted again and I can't get to see my trainer.
Ten Percent - Oh my gosh, do I love this app. It was recommended to me by my executive coach, and it is the only thing I've ever used that has made it easy and simple for me to meditate more days than not. I've been using it for months, and I honestly look forward to my sessions every day. I'm a huge fan of Joseph Goldstein's meditations, but there is so much variety in the teachers that you can find someone you love. They have meditations as short as five minutes or as long as 60, and they are either guided (which I needed in the beginning) or unguided (which I like some days now.) Light on the woo-woo, heavy on the benefits for your brain, this app and its teachers are just ideal for someone like me.
Aaptiv - I never, ever found an exercise app I liked. I don't like to stare at videos of ridiculously toned people sweating cinematically while I haul my much-less photogenic self through a workout routine. But this app is ALL AUDIO. I can just listen to what someone is saying, do the moves, and not have to stare at any spandex. (There are demonstrations of the moves in the app if you get confused or don't know how to do something, but no one in them is glistening or excessively perky.) I put my headphones in, and in 10 or 20 or 30 minutes, I can listen to some seriously good music and get in a great stretch, or kettlebell workout, or bike ride. It's exactly what I need while I'm not able to see my trainer.
A weight-adjustable kettlebell - In my old house, I had a full gym in the basement. And I mean a full gym. I even had a cable-pulley machine and a hack squat. In my new (much smaller) house, I don't even have room for a full-size treadmill. I sold everything in my old home gym. But when it started to look like the gyms were going to shut down AGAIN, I asked my trainer what the one best piece of workout equipment I could get was. He recommended an adjustable-weight kettlebell, because I can use it to do just about everything, and it only takes up a tiny amount of space. I also got these handy posters for inspiration if I need to figure out a workout for the day.
An exercise bike - I'm no Peloton Wife. But this bike is tiny, takes up very little room, folds up to take up even less room, and was CHEAP. It does the job, it can hide away when not in use, and did I mention it was cheap? Combined with the cycling workouts on Aaptiv, it's a good enough cardio workout for me, any day of the week. Is it SoulCycle? No. But remember what I said about shiny people in shiny spandex?
So there you have it. This is how I keep my mind and body (somewhat) together during quarantine, and even not during quarantine. All of it together is less than $600, and it's a good solution for a smaller house and my budget.