Here it is, the first few weeks of spring and instead of enjoying the spring weather everyone is told to stay home because of the virus. Runners and walkers can still get their mileage in and get a little stress relief. Then the heavy rains arrived in the first part of April and even those short excursions were limited. There is a thing that people in the northern midwest part of the country call “cabin fever” that comes from being indoors because of cold and snow for weeks — and often times, months — that seems to have spread to the rest of the country. The cure for this stress related illness is to be active.
There are any number of alternatives to getting outdoors for a run or walk. If you are fortunate enough to have a flight of stairs in your house there is a great leg work out walking up and down the stairs for exercise. I have a tough time running in place or skipping rope in the home, but desperate times call for desperate measures. A little creative thinking can make these repetitive exercises more enjoyable. Music works in stationary running with dance steps and changing the pace of the run to keep beat with music. Put a nice slow waltz on for a short time, followed by a jazz beat to pick up the pace. And who said the legs have to always move forward and backward. A little side to side, spins, hops, and jumps in the movement adds variety to the run.
Skipping rope has a lot of different moves to try. When the ‘Jump Rope for Heart’ movement was popular in physical education classes, the different jumps created by these youngsters was something to watch. You might be older now but a little creative thinking can make a bout of skipping rope fun.
