One of the positive sides of the lock down is that it is given us time with our families. As runners with a passion for health and fitness, many Chennai Runners have taken this opportunity to introduce and extend their love for running, health and fitness to their families. Here are some inspiring stories from the CR Kilpauk Striders:
Dinesh
It was the third week of March. My son, Prafull had returned to Chennai from Manipal since his college had declared an interim closure due to the COVID situation. My niece Himani and younger son Vipul had just completed their 12th and 10th board exams that week and were much relieved. Our youngest member in the family Kirti, in her 6th standard was excited about the possibility of not writing exam at all.
With travel ruled out, I asked the kids what their summer plan was. Pat came the reply, “Binge-watch”. Immediately, my CRKS training kicked in. I proposed that we need a counter-weight outdoor activity and thus our daily morning exercise routine was born. It was going to be a team of six – my brother, 4 kids in the family and myself.
Our routine now is to assemble at 6:25 in the morning on the terrace. We start at 6:30am with warm-ups, 5 * 3 sets exercises and wrap-up with cool-down by 7am. Exercises are some combinations of Push-ups, Plank, Cross-Plank, Abs, Walking Lunges, Squats, wall-sits and so on…Kids take turn to do the counting and we have a lot of fun as well!!
It’s been over a month since we started. The kids are reluctant to wake up in the morning but it is encouraging to see that we are able to sustain the workout routine. We recently started playing Cricket in the evening. Our next big project is to get my wife and sister-in-law join us during our workout.
In Himani’s words, “I thought of fitness as a solitary activity. My experience with a proper exercise routine started with this lockdown. It is helping me to spend quality time with my family; we have fun and I am feeling more energetic.”
Neeta
Health & Workout had for long been my top priority and my day almost always started with it. I enjoyed a variety of workout like running, jogging, swimming, yoga, etc. and up till a time, a 40-50 mins workout was a must for me every day.
But gradually I became irregular in my workouts and started making excuses for not working out. Secretly, I was wishing for a big break from my everyday chores so I would have no excuses left to make. I had also always wished to workout with my husband since I believe it is a great way of spending time together but due to different workout timings and different areas of workout interests, we never got a chance.
This period of quarantine fulfilled my wish. It has given me more time with my family. I along with my husband and children workout on the terrace (close to nature and surrounded by the chirping of the birds and the pleasant breeze). We spend time learning new workout techniques, running on the terrace, sweating, playing, laughing & an occasional photo shoot (of new workout poses) which is always great fun.
My father-in-law is our inhouse Ramdev Baba. He teaches us yoga and the rest of us try the various asanas which strengthens and stretches our muscles. We also try out different workouts like Zumba, aerobics, core exercises, HR, dance through YouTube as well as by the online sessions organised by CR. These sessions have inspired my husband to join CRKS after the lockdown and I am looking forward to running with him in the midst of nature and under the blue sky.
Bharat Jain
I am an outdoor person who loves eating out. I try out new restaurants and experiment with new food. And despite my love for food, I have learnt to stay fit by following a fitness regime. Even during this period of lockdown, I ensured I was working out and even introduced my family to my love for fitness. It has now been a month of workout with my family and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Besides increasing our family fitness levels, the other happy result of working out together is how close I have gotten to my kids. We are all eating better and healthier, all thanks to the lockdown.