The workout equipment has been gathering dust for many months. But today! I actually did a proper workout for real, with weights and everything. I decided it several days in advance so I wouldn’t have the “I’ll do it tomorrow” excuse, said that it would only be 15 to 20 minutes so it wouldn’t feel like too big of a commitment, and got it done. It actually felt too short.

If I get no other exercise in, I do my daily half-hour of brisk walking. I almost always follow the same route, with some nice steepish hills here and there, and a decent-sized park at the far end that I take a big loop through.

The part that goes along streets is not very exciting. I’m not interested in other people’s houses and gardens. I usually read while walking and treat it as pure exercise. But the park is strikingly nice to look at, in almost any season and any weather. Swedish parks are – unlike English ones – generally devoid of flowers or anything else requiring more maintenance than the occasional mowing. They’re all just grass and trees and large bushes. But the large open space and the mostly uninterrupted greenery still feels very good.

Full of energy after ten days of activity, I’m making a renewed effort to start exercising daily again.

My daily exercise is a brisk midday walk more often than it is a proper workout session, these days. Often I don’t have the energy for more.

With lower energy levels, my taste in workout videos has also changed. My favourite sources used to be PopSugar (on YouTube) and HASfit. The PopSugar videos with Raneir Pollard were the most fun. But then YouTube turned up their advertising earlier this year to truly annoying levels – interrupting a HIIT workout to show me some ads in the middle really doesn’t make me a happy user! – and I had to give up on those. I don’t mind paying for online services, but I’m not going to be bullied into paying.

I actually support HASfit via Patreon, because I watched their workout videos a lot. But now their tone doesn’t work for me any more. I used to find them motivating, but now it’s almost the opposite. Telling me “you can do more”, “if your brain is telling you you’re tired then it’s lying”, “don’t stop when you’re tired, stop when you’re done” does not help when I was already struggling to find the energy to just start. Reminding me to think about what made me come here, when I barely managed to do that, just makes it harder.

Now I mostly watch FitnessBlender. The workouts are quite similar but the tone is very different. Calmer and less pushy. Forgiving any weakness in advance, somehow. And right now this low-key approach works much better for me.

I often start the workout telling myself that I am allowed to quit before the end. I commit to five minutes only. Sometimes I find the flow as soon as I start. Other times I don’t, and I keep promising myself that I am allowed to quit after this exercise, and after the next one, and so on, if I really don’t feel like continuing. But I’ve never actually used my out.

It’s been weeks and weeks since I had a proper workout. I’ve been going out for brisk walks every day during my lunch break, but actually working out hasn’t happened. I just haven’t been able to make myself do it. The dumbbells were literally covered by a layer of dust.

I did work out today, though! It doesn’t feel like much, but one workout is better than none.

To my great disappointment I discovered that the workout videos I used to watch on YouTube are now all full of ads. I guess they tried to get me hooked during the pandemic and hoped that I’d start paying for premium access to keep watching now. I’m really not fond of YouTube as a platform so that’s a total no. And the ads are so annoying – how the heck am I supposed to work out if the workout gets interrupted by an ad in the middle of my set of lunges?! – that the whole thing makes me like YouTube less than ever.

Luckily I can watch HASfit workout videos on their own site. And in fact I’m much more willing to support them on Patreon than pay for YouTube.

I’m going to miss my PopSugar workouts with Raneir, though…

25°C outside. I tried doing my workout on the deck but it was so hot I felt near fainting. Moved inside again and aimed the fan right at me and stripped down to my sporty underwear (no, you’re not getting photos of that) and survived the workout. But if it gets any hotter than this, I’m going to have to stop my exercise sessions.

The workouts are happening outside now that it’s so warm.

I’m kind of pleased that I’ve managed to keep up my daily workouts for 7 months now. Thinking of buying bigger dumbbells yet again, but then again I’m not sure if I’ll have the discipline during the summer break, and who knows what happens in autumn anyway…

After last week’s lack of energy, I’m glad to be back to feeling normal again.

Today was warm enough to open the window during my workout, but unfortunately wet. I’m looking forward to moving my workouts outdoors. But spring is deceptive – it always takes much longer than I expect.

We finally have more dumbbells! The whole project only took 5 weeks and three attempts.

It really bothers my sense of order that I have three different styles among four pairs of dumbbells. Nothing is consistent! One pair in painted cast iron, three covered in vinyl. One pair measured in pounds, three in kilograms. Two pairs out of four match, and those two are not adjacent in size. Eugh.