Today, I changed up my fitness routine. Normally on a good day, and only on a good day, I get up and stretch a few minutes with Classical Stretch: By Essentrics on PBS. Later, Joy and I usually go for nice walk. If it’s windy we walk to the north side of the island and watch boats go up and down the ICW. If it’s calm and on the warmer side, we walk up the beach, either toward our friends’ beach access or toward the town pier.
We won’t talk about what happens on not-a-good days (but thank God for Hallmark).
A couple of days ago, Apple announce the release of a new exercise program called Apple Fitness+. If you don’t have an Apple Watch 3 or newer just move along. There’s nothing to see here. After watching the CNET review on YouTube, I, an elderly man with a leg that’s been messed up since I was a younger man, decided I wanted to give it a try.
So, I signed up for the one month free trial. As I’ve already described, I do movement regularly, but not really anything that I would categorize as exercise. In fact, I don’t really remember the last time I closed the exercise ring on my watch.
But after watching the Absolute Beginners preview video, I gave the Absolute Beginner Strength with Kyle class a shot. I have to say I loved it. As a young man I was a gym rat and loved working out with my buddies. Kyle stood in the front and did a moderate version of each movement. Another trainer stood behind him and did an easier version. Still a third trainer stood behind him on the other side and did more advanced motions. The vibe was positive and upbeat. Maybe the novelty will wear off, but this first go round was fun. I got myself grinning as I exercised. When my back started to hurt, I switched to the easier version demonstrated in the rear. For exercises that didn’t hit my back wrong I just switched back to following Kyle directly.
Now, if I was still in my 30’s and could be lifting weights with the same group every morning, I think I would still prefer that. But for someone my age, during the pandemic, this looks like it might be a great value. I’ll know better by the end of the month.
