Lockdown Life
Week 1
I coach the evening classes on Friday 20th at the CrossFit gym I coach and train at. Halfway through my 5.30pm class I’m told that my final class at 6.30pm will be my last. It’s announced the gym is to close due to COVID-19. We don’t know when it will re-open. Little do I realise this will be the last CrossFit class I coach at method Training. I knew it was coming, just not this soon. There’s a lot of tension in the air as we close, and over the weekend. Trepidation from all as to what’s happening, how it might affect us, our friends, our family and what symptoms to look for. In the first week, I clean. A LOT. Everywhere. I work. I train. I go for walks and wonder how many joggers have just started jogging for the first time. I criticise. I chastise myself for criticising. I keep to a steady routine. I keep a low profile, and enjoy the blossoming home workouts come to life on the world wide web.
Week 2
The cleaning continues. I list three quarters of my wardrobe on depop after realising very few of my clothes now fit me. This happens after a mammoth at-home catwalk. Apart from gym attire I seemingly haven’t bought real life clothes for a very long time. This is alarming. I realise I should have bought shares in Zara. I tell myself it’s muscle and not the fact I’m a lardy arse. I make 500 types of banana bread, then baked banana oats, then eventually freeze the bananas I have left as I can feel myself turning into the very bunches sat on my kitchen bench. The death toll keeps ticking up by the day, the news entrenched in negativity. Joe Wicks takes the world by storm with his adult PE. I learn to frog pose for 45 seconds. The never-ending cleaning regime ends. My home workouts evolve with MT workouts and my beloved hypertrophy. I’ve never done this much cardio in my life.
Week 3
We know by the end of the week that the lockdown situation will be reviewed. Three weeks they say. As the week wains on, it’s incredibly unlikely the lockdown is going to be lifted. On the contrary, it might be enforced even further. I start my new job getting ready for the launch of a fitness boutique opening in Newcastle. I’m excited & nervous. But mostly excited. My attention turns to non-banana related recipes and I get creative with bounty bites and carrot cake cookies in my spare time. Jane Fonda uploads workouts onto TikTok. I have avoided TikTok like the plague. Mr Motivator makes a return – my heart is happy. Spandex is life. I call my grandparents who are stuck indoors. My Gran tells me next time I should call her with something funny to say. My grandad celebrates his birthday. I put on red lipstick and style my hair to feel pretty one night. We have an unusually warm bank holiday Saturday. The rest of the weekend is freezing. I train outside through desperation for fresh air and train in my coat, hat and gloves. I hate the cold. But I’m thankful for health.