This experience was about maintaining and improving my physical fitness and well-being. During this activity, I started going to the gym regularly and maintained this regularity throughout the year. I go to the gym 3-4 times a week depending on my external workloads such as school or exams but I manage to go at least 3 times a week. I go to the gym for general fitness so I did not go to a personal trainer but rather did my exercise independently. My usual gym schedule is:
- Treadmill and endurance training to develop stamina and to do cardio. This was continuous jogging at 8.5 kph at an incline of ‘2’ for 20 min + walking at 4kph at ‘4’ incline for 5 min
- 5 min rest.
This is the set schedule for almost every single time I go to the gym. After this initial exercise, I proceed to do specialized exercises such as either arms, legs, or core. ‘Arms’ include bicep curls, bench-presses, and using the pull-down machine. ‘Legs’ include squats, sumo-squats, treadmill with an incline of ‘8’, and the 2 ways of using the machine for leg training. ‘Core’ mainly includes a lot of crunches and some planks. I maintain this kind of regime even now and plan to maintain it for as many years as I can. My goal in this experience was to get my physical fitness up to an acceptable level because my stamina and my muscles were very weak due to not exercising during the majority of 2020. I started exercising in February 2021 and I am still doing it. My goal isn’t to develop muscles which is why the intensity of my gyming is relatively moderate. Rather the endurance aspect is what I focused more on. This was partly because endurance is what I lacked the most and partly because of an upcoming trekking trip that required me to carry 10kgs and walk for 83km in 5 days.
This experience was very challenging because of the commitment that is required of me. I had to commit to going to the gym every single day which was tough especially since after a while it can get very uneventful and boring to run on the treadmill for 25 min a day even while listening to music. However, music was definitely one of the main ways that I stayed motivated and committed to the experience. I felt very accomplished from time to time whenever I stayed committed to my schedule for a certain amount of time and then also felt quite proud when I started to notice the drastic changes in my endurance and general fitness after a few months. I also plan to verify this by going on a trek that is rated at moderate difficulty. I think that it is crucial to undertake new challenges in order to improve one’s physical well-being and in general challenges lead to an increase in a person’s growth rate. It was very difficult to stay committed to this experience(and still is) but at the same time staying committed to an experience like this assures me that I will be able to maintain my fitness level.
All in all, I am very glad that I undertook this experience since it has improved my physical well-being and also mental well-being since having a higher fitness level greatly boosts my confidence.
