This time of sheltering in place and practicing social distance has changed many of our day-to-day routines, especially those who have been forced to close their businesses (that includes our studios and us). Luckily, several of our studios have been able to pivot and offer virtual classes, so we can keep sweating and they can keep providing workouts and hopefully getting a little bit of income as well. With everyone at home, we started to wonder what our fitness instructor and studio owners are doing morning, afternoon & evening. We have studio owners and trainers from Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and Oklahoma City giving us a little peek inside their daily routine during the time of Covid. We’ve all been hearing how to beat boredom, how to be productive and creative, etc, but it’s refreshing to see that even our leaders are OK with sleeping in without an alarm, having a glass of wine at the end of the day and just going with the flow. We think it’s important to note that this time is traumatic for the entire world–so don’t get hung up on what any one individual is doing with their time. We hope their routines will serve as inspiration and entertainment for you. 💙
- I wake up before 6:30 each day, head downstairs and chug some Athletic Greens, make coffee and sit in my “corner pocket” on the couch. I spend about 10 minutes journaling. Each day I reflect and write three good things that happened the day before, three things I am grateful for, three things that would make the day great and one daily affirmation. Sometimes if I’m feeling inspired or I need to brain dump I will free journal too.
- After this, I head out for a 30 minute dog walk with my best furry friend Bowie. On my morning walks I like to listen to personal development podcasts. A few favorites are On Purpose with Jay Shetty, Unlocking Us by Brene Brown and Manifestation Babe, just to name a few!
- My brain is on fire in the morning, thank you coffee! I spend time wherever my energy flows. That could look like working on a side project, programming for my clients, doing back end work for my business, helping out with FIT Austin’s business, social media content- my mornings are always evolving!
- My afternoons are always changing as I have (like most!) transitioned my business to online. I have virtual training sessions with my clients sprinkled throughout the day which makes me so happy to connect and see my amazing tribe of women.
- Pre COVID-19, I was a MWF 6am workout kinda gal. Now, I hop onto FIT Austin’s 12:00 class which is 30 minutes of various, full body movement. Depending on how I am feeling, I will do another 30 minutes of a recorded class from FIT Austin.
- If mine and my husband’s schedule is aligned, we try to eat a healthy lunch together. The break in the day to have human interaction is really important to me.
- Sometimes in the afternoon, I try to get another dog walk in. (Bowie is really winning this quarantine!) Being outside in the sun, fresh air and staring into infinity really gets my energy levels up! On my afternoon dog walks, I usually call and check in with my parents which feels nice to connect with family and not think about work or what’s going on in the world.
- LOGGING OFF is my strength for my evening routine- pre COVID! When you work from home, you never really leave work. And when people know you are quarantined working from home, they tend to take advantage of the fact they know you can be available, anytime. Logging off is super important to me, especially now that I can’t leave my work at the studio. My computer is shut and I am done with clients by 4:00.
- I have been trying to squeeze in another short, you guessed it, dog walk, but that depends on the weather and my energy. If I do an evening dog walk, I leave my headphones and phone at home to disconnect. I cannot tell you how good it feels to disconnect early evening!! Try it! I make dinner by 6:30 where my husband and I connect and have no devices at the dinner table. (number 1 rule we’ve had for over 5 years in our house, highly recommend!)
- After dinner we either watch a show or read, depending on what we are feeling and what kind of day we had. 9:00 is when I like to be in bed by! Early to bed, early to rise, all to rinse and repeat the grind the following day! It took about 3 weeks, but I truly feel like this week has felt the most routined since our quarantine went down. Routine is something I can control, and it calms and settles me during this unknown time. If anything, I encourage you to aim for 3 things you can keep routined, daily! That could look like waking up at the same time each day, aiming for 30 minutes of movement, and reading 10 pages of a book. Try it for a week straight, see what happens!
- Immediately upon waking, I drink a full cup of water to get my day started! From there, I usually make/eat breakfast and catch up on emails.
- I typically always try to move my body in some sort of way! As of lately, I’ve been loving mat Pilates at home 🙂 Around mid-afternoon, my husband and I play football in the backyard with our dog. To clarify, we actually just throw a ball back and forth to one another. We started this tradition about a year and half ago and haven’t stopped since. We are VERY committed to this activity and play through all sorts of weather conditions – seriously! Afterwards, I check on my outdoor herb garden that I started a week ago!
- Every evening we take our dog (Rocky) for a walk around the neighborhood to get the mail. Rocky is a creature of habit and won’t let us miss this part of the day. Afterwards, I typically cook dinner and watch a TV show. You can mostly catch me watching HGTV or Food Network!
- Sleeping in with no alarm! It’s been the most welcome change of all – getting to wake up and start the day feeling well rested and always having a little time to cuddle with the pups.
- Workout. I either run or take a class on the Lync Virtual Studio, or both. It’s been comforting to sweat with my team and hear them lead class, even if it’s only through the screen. I’m also setting a goal to log 100 run miles in April – stay tuned to see what happens, haha!
- Catch up on emails, check in with the Lync managers, and research. There’s so much going on in the fitness industry right now and studios and instructors are being so creative about how to deliver workouts to clients – so I take a little time each day to see what’s out there and what would be best for my Lync fam.
- Study! I’m using this time to study for my personal training certification. It’s been something I’ve wanted to do but haven’t had the time until now.
- Enjoy happy hour. I’ve been loving finishing the “work day” at 4:00 pm each day and it gives me a chance to sit outside on the deck with my plants and a glass of wine.
- Make dinner with my boyfriend Michael. We’ve been using Home Chef and make dinner together 5 nights a week. It’s actually really fun to spend the evenings together in the kitchen because my schedule normally only allows me to be home at normal dinner time 1-2 days a week. We’ve been getting take out the other 2 nights to support some of our fave restaurants (and because to-go margs, duh)!
- Read. I’m a sucker for a good Netflix or Hulu show, but I’m trying to balance it out right now by picking up a book a few nights a week instead. I’m finishing Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver (recommend) and starting Untamed by Glennon Doyle soon (Reese’s April Book Club pick).
- Wake up and drink a full glass of water, turn on the Today Show, then brew a cup of coffee and chill for bit.
- Workout, eat a healthy lunch (usually a salad), and start on my afternoon productivity
- Walk the dog, find something to laugh about with my husband, and shower off the day
- Wake up my 1 year old Drink coffee while preparing breakfast Send out zoom links to clients registered for classes Get ready to teach if I’m teaching the live class!
- During the quarantine I’ve been making a daily trip to the studio to workout. Also lots of baking!
- Have a glass of wine and crash after my 1 year old is down