What I learned after 31 workouts in 31 days
By: Victoria Cairl
Tags: Fitness, Motivation, Life Lessons, Resolutions, Exercise

Me and my favorite kettlebell.

It was a year and it felt like everything in my life was constantly in a tailspin. I needed to control something.

I had been working in theater, an institution as old as time and yet everything had shut down.

I was surviving, building out beyond my comfort zone, learning how to use my skillset in new ways. I had three kids in virtual school, a husband working from home at our dining room table and we added a pandemic puppy to the mix in October.

Functionally, I was surviving but I felt out of control and incredibly lonely. Plus, I just felt gross. I had done what many had over the course of this hard emotional year, I had eaten too many things I should not have and drank too much in general.

After a Thanksgiving COVID exposure scare, I was stuck in lockdown once again and thought, here’s what I can control: I can take one hour from every day in December and workout. The goal: feel stronger and to keep a promise to myself that things can and will get better. And on a more scientific nerd angle, I wondered what would happen to my body after these 31 days.

Here’s what I learned:

Find a program you love and can stick to- I had first joined Mark Fisher Fitness (MFF) in person back in 2019. It’s like the Island of Misfit Toys only for people who may not love regular gyms. You are dubbed “Ninjas” and lead by instructors who might wear a unicorn horn from time to time. I wondered if the magic I’d experienced there in person would translate online. I tried it out and loved it even more. They had adapted to online classes, but still kept the sense of fun and community. They were offering classes throughout the day with live trainers who helped correct your form while offering playlists and encouragement along the way. You sign up for a class and make a commitment to show up.

You run out of excuses to not go to the gym when it is in your home. All I needed to do was roll out of bed and find a space large enough to fit a yoga mat into to work out. My shower was a few feet away, my bottle of water was in the kitchen, weights and mat were in a corner of the living room and my sports bra was…somewhere. But often found just in time for class. (And yes, my pajama bottoms often found their way into a workout).

Community can be key. In December MFF hosts a “Holiday Hotness Challenge”. We were randomly assigned to teams of around eight people. We had each other to lean on and to show up for. We chatted on Facebook and logged our workouts and our daily bonus challenges. Bonus challenges could include anything from “try a new vegetable you rarely eat today” to “do 100 body weight squats over the course of the day” to “text someone and tell them why you truly appreciate them”. Additionally, you not only see the trainers in MFF workouts, you see other people in your class over Zoom. I loved not only seeing other people of all shapes and sizes working through the same routines side-by-side in the Zoom squares, but also (secretly) getting sneak peeks into everyone’s homes or Air B&B’s. I admired many a Christmas tree in another person’s home while swinging a kettle bell.

Set a “Time to Work Out” but be flexible- I’m a morning person. Plus, it’s the one time when the kids, puppy and husband are all asleep. I would normally sign up for classes at 7am or 7:30am on a weekday and 8am or 9am on the weekend. However, after working out every day, your body does need time to rest and recover. So sometimes, I’d throw in one or two evening classes to give my body over 24 hours to reset itself.

Life Happens, know that going in- Sadly in December, my daughter wound up in the hospital for several days. I was sleeping there and stressed beyond belief and almost gave up on working out one day, but then I had my husband cover a shift with her, I drove home, worked out, took a shower and headed back to the hospital. It was a little insane, but honestly, the push of the workout lowered my stress levels quite a bit and made me stronger for her when I returned.

Run your own race- The MFF team repeats this phrase over and over to us at nearly every workout. What that means is either due to an injury or a strive for an accomplishment, you choose how hard you want to go. I have shown up and done exactly as instructed. I have loaded up different exercises with weights getting heavier and heavier as well. I also had to adjust which exercises I did when my right hip would get sore or my wrists were rebelling against another push-up.

Recovery is no joke- There is a reason that trainers encourage you to not workout every single day and that is because recovery is essential to your health and safety. Knowing that going into this challenge, I made sure to push myself to get more sleep and stretch. I tried to never miss a warm-up or a cool down in my workouts. I took many a hot shower post-workout, rubbed a ton of Icy Hot on myself and booked a massage mid-way through my experiment. I learned my body is a machine and I needed to keep it running as efficiently as possible.

“You can’t out train your diet”- But oh god, did I try. My biggest struggle throughout this past month was trying to track and watch my calorie intake. I tried to eat more vegetables, drink lots of water and consume more protein. I even took advantage of MFF’s “Unicorn Nutrition” where I have someone from the team monitoring what I eat and helping support me to make better choices and plan my meals. I was only 60% successful at this part of my journey. I ended up often blowing it on after-work drinks or “treating” my myself to too many treats. I know I could have accomplished more if I had been stricter with my nutritional intake but, truth be told, I think I needed to get in the habit of exercising and now I can work on the food part.

All the work was worth it and I’m proud of myself- For someone who has always been “curvy,” and never what you would call “athletic,” this past month was a lesson in redefining myself on my own terms. I pushed through exhaustion and pain and so many burpees. I showed up no matter how much I wanted to stay in bed. I also laughed a lot and smiled even more. I borrowed and created so many playlists. And accomplished feats with my body I would have never thought possible.

I’m grateful to the MFF team and love their hour long HIIT workouts. But whatever journey you go on this next year, whether it is fitness or otherwise. Know that by committing to yourself you can truly do anything.