I said it last week, but one of the things I love most about Orangetheory is not having to think too much about my workouts. I just have to schedule my workout times, show up, and there is a plan all set for me. I know I still have to work hard, but having everything figured out for me helps me feel more excited to work out.
Almost 11 months ago when I started working out at home, the OTF at Home videos were very similar to what the classes were like. And I understand why they changed the format recently and for so many people it probably makes their workouts better. But for me, I like having things really easy for me. All I had to do was get up, open the app on my iPad, and do the workout. I knew I was getting my full workout in and that was that. And if I wasn’t working or if I was doing workouts after work, having to mix and match things might be fine for me. But not when I’m trying to get a workout done quickly so I can do it before I have to log in for work.
So this past week, I tried to do some planning so I didn’t have to think too much. I knew what things I’d be doing each day and tried to follow that. But it still didn’t feel right to me. I really don’t like having to switch from one workout to another to get my full workout done. I liked it being in a single video so I didn’t have to switch anything in the middle. But I tried this idea and did it for the first 3 workouts of the week. But on Saturday, when I had a bit more time, I decided to change it yet again.
First, I will say that as soon as I can go back to OTF, I will be going there. I still think it’s the best workout for me and just because I’m looking at other options for now doesn’t mean that I won’t be back. I just have to find what works when I can’t do the workout that works best for me. And as soon as I’m vaccinated or things are safe, I will be back at OTF and probably won’t work out at home anymore.
But I had to accept that for now, the OTF at Home videos aren’t going to be the best option for me unless they go back to full workouts in a single video. I had to find workouts online that were the full workout in one thing. So I created a playlist for myself on YouTube and started searching for different workouts online. I found online videos that are similar to OTF and have the full workout in one thing. And I made sure all the videos were long enough too. Some of them were only 20 minutes long, and that’s not enough for me. The shortest ones I found were about 35 minutes long, but most were between 45-60 minutes.
I want to add that as I wrote this blog post, I also realized I was a bit of an idiot and didn’t add any of the old OTF at Home workout videos to my list. They have hundreds on there with the old format on their YouTube channel, so I could just add those too! So I actually took a break in the middle of writing this to go to their channel to add a bunch of those workouts to my playlist.
I found quite a few videos that fit what I was looking for. And I did the first one for my Saturday workout. It was a bit odd trying to get used to some of the flow and language they used (some exercises had different names from what I’m used to), but it went well. I liked feeling like I was doing a full workout and that I didn’t have to think too much about it. I will still need to plan out what video I will do each day, especially on weekdays when my time is a bit more limited. I’m also going to try to only do the shorter 35-minute ones when I have to rush to get my workout done. But hopefully, I can keep waking up early so I don’t have to rush a workout in the morning.
Just like with every other attempt I’ve made with doing my workouts at home work for me, this one might not work even though I’m liking the idea for now. Things might change and next week I might have a new idea that I’m excited about. But I’m trying to remind myself that at least I’m trying to make this work and not giving up when things keep getting harder for me. I’m not giving up on my workout routine. I just have to keep going. And maybe it will never really be perfect for me, but that’s ok too. This isn’t the permanent plan for myself, I just have to do it until I can get back to what I know makes me happy.
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Almost Missing An Entire Week Of Workouts (or Another Issue With Vertigo)
6 Months Of Home Workouts (or I Still Miss OTF All The Time)
Being Forced To Change Up My Workout Routine (or I Thought I’d Have A Little Time To Settle)
