My Workouts Lately
Summer has a way of pulling me outside and into new kinds of movement, and this season has been no exception. Between walks with a good friend, pickleball lessons that are kicking my butt in the best possible way, and my usual Fitness Marshall dance sessions, I’ve been finding all sorts of ways to stay active and have fun while doing it. Here’s what I’ve been up to lately.
Walking
Even though my 5K is over, I’m still enjoying walks. Now that it’s summer and the weather is hotter, I’m mostly doing my walks in the mornings and evenings. I inherited really fair skin from my mom, so I’m one of those people who is always wearing sunscreen and a hat and trying to avoid the mid-day sun as much as possible.
I have a friend that I go for lots of walks with, and it’s so nice to be able to catch up with her while also being active. We have a few favorite parks that we like to go to, but our last walk was at a spot in my neighborhood that was new to both of us. Somehow I’d never been there before, and she agreed to check it out with me. I’m so glad we went, because it turned out to be such a pretty spot with lots of green space and trees.
Pickleball
I signed up for pickleball lessons! Pickleball is brand new to me. I hadn’t even picked up a pickleball racket until my first lesson. THe last time I even played a racket sport was back in high school over 20 years ago. I’ve attended the first two lessons so far, and I’ve already learned so much. I’m really enjoying it, even though some of the different shots still feel very weird to be doing.
I signed up for beginner lessons, and there are only one or two other people in the class who are as new to pickleball as I am. Everyone else has at least some experience with it.
I have to admit that it’s much more of a workout than I was expecting. Or maybe that’s just because I’m constantly running after the balls I’ve missed getting back over the net. After my first lesson I was so sweaty, sweatier than I’ve been in a long time. Needless to say, it’s a great workout.
When I was looking for lessons, I had a couple of options I was seriously considering. I’m glad I went with the one I did, because I feel like my four lessons will give me a much better foundation than the two lessons I would have gotten at a different community centre.
Fitness Marshall
I’ve also been keeping up with my Fitness Marshall workouts online, and I’m still having so much fun with them. They’re honestly one of the best fitness investments I’ve made this year, and I mean that. There’s something about dance cardio that just doesn’t feel like exercise in the way other workouts do, even though I’m definitely getting my heart rate up and breaking a sweat by the end.
Caleb, Allison, and Haley are the ones leading most of the videos I do, and they’ve each got such different energy that keeps things interesting. Caleb brings this playful, larger than life energy that makes me laugh even when I’m out of breath. I’m never bored, and it makes the 30 minutes feel like it flies by.
I’ve enjoyed other dance cardio workouts in the past, so it makes sense that I’d click with these too. But what keeps me coming back to Fitness Marshall specifically is how approachable the routines feel even when they’re challenging. I never feel like I need to be a dancer to keep up, I just need to show up and move. Some days that’s exactly the kind of workout I need, one where I can just press play and let the music carry me through instead of overthinking every step.
Looking back at everything I’ve been up to this summer, from walking with my friend, to sweating my way through pickleball lessons, to dancing along with Caleb, Allison, and Haley, I’m reminded that staying active doesn’t have to look one specific way. Some days it’s slow and social, other days it’s a little chaotic and competitive, and other days it’s just me and my living room. All of it counts, and all of it has been a lot of fun.
