Quarantine Series: Letter 3

Dear Corona,

I suppose one aspect that I could thank you for is me not having to do any form of exercise or activity throughout my day. In a normal day, I would have gained some form of circulation by moving between classes. However, now being glued to my seat, I used the overwhelming number of assignments as an excuse to sit still for the entirety of the day as it seemed like my only source of relaxation and somewhat constancy in my routine. Nonetheless, similar to most of your other implications, using you as an excuse to refrain from activity seems to be a trojan horse; at first it seemed like a comforting contrast to the heavy workload but soon I realized that it subliminally enforced bad behavior and allowed for an unhealthy mentality. Therefore, as an effort to eradicate these negative influences and maintain a healthy physical and mental state I opted for 1 hour work out sessions on a three-day cycle.

Prior to you wreaking havoc, I maintained a healthy physical condition on account of swimming training as well as the occasional gym day. However, since you have been rampaging outside, I am forced to abandon my initial fitness routine and settle for a virtual class with my gym instructor. I initially didn’t realize the lingering negative influence of the lack of exercise till a month into quarantine when I kept experiencing periods of fatigue and retained a constantly irritable feeling. After much research and an effective conversation with my guidance counselor, it was ultimately decided that these bouts of petulance and exhaustion was a product of the sudden routine change and that the best way forward was to return to a state of normalcy by upholding my exercise regime.

Thus, as an effort to test this theory and identifying my own strengths and areas for growth, I organized five days of home workouts for alternating days in order to monitor any change on both my physicality and mental state. Although I didn’t see much progress, I continued these workouts for approximately a month, and was getting quite frustrated since I the irritablity was very much persistent. Although I wanted to give up and try a different approach, I showed commitment and perseverance to my CAS experiences. Soon, I realized that I needed a softer transition from having 0% activity to 80% every week and thus decided to mimic my gym workouts that was completed during swim season. After rummaging through my swim training equipment, I came across a 15 kg medicine ball and my red level stretch cord and contacted my gym instructor in order to plan a schedule that could incorperate some of the exercises that my body was familiar with. While making this change into my activity routine, I felt that my body was more in sync and comfortable completing this new regiment, possibly due to the movements being imprinted within my muscle memory. I inherently felt better and this new found hope and positivity led to a drastic attitude change and new outlook on life.

A fundamental change that was incurred into my workout regime was the concept of ‘specialization and segregation’. Much like swim training, I structured my activity plan to focus on one aspect out of legs, arms, cardio and abs for each session, thereby honing my muscles and skills and placing the focus on these specific muscle groups. I found this new structure to be very effective as focalizing on a particular section of the anatomy gave me the opportunity to enhance not only the connecting muscles but have a chance to complete a vaster range of versatile exercises. I feel as if this experience was a demonstration of challenges being undertaken while developing new skills in the process.

…

I believe that the purpose of this letter is yet again a reminder that whatever backhanded gift that you present me with, I shall always persevere and be driven to overcome my challenges. Unceasingly, you have attempted to demean not only my physicality but my resolve towards my handling of this precarious situation, and this is proof that you failed. I admit, I did feel hopeless at first, but now I welcome any other obstacles that you throw my way with an open minded and determined mentality.

 

Sincerely,

One of 7.6 billion lives you affected.