This Girl Can: Lockdown Edition!

We've loved seeing how people have been getting creative in their activities and managing to keep active during the lockdown! It's been inspiring to see people sharing their stories and encouraging others to Join the Movement.  Sarah Groom a.k.a. @thisbristolgirlcan has been doing exactly that!

"I first became aware of the This Girl Can campaign through my trainer at Impact Gym in Bristol, Soeli O'Hagan when she ran a free beginner class as part of the Bristol Girls Can campaign. It was such a motivational campaign and I saw first hand how it changed people's attitude to working out. I now share my fitness journey on my Instagram page @thisbristolgirlcan which I set up a few years ago. Although not my initial intention (I started it to keep myself accountable), it seems to help motivate people and as long as that is the case I'll continue to post both my PB's and gym fails!"

During lockdown, Sarah has been sharing how she's adapted her normal routine to ensure she is still moving whilst working from home. We hope this gives you some motivation to move a little more in a way that works for you! 

Have you found yourself doing more or less physical activity since lockdown began?

It's a bit mixed to be honest, I've spent less physical time exercising because my usual commute to work became a 1 minute walk to the spare room rather than the usual hour long walk to the office and I obviously haven't had access to the gym. However, I have become more consistent with the exercise I am doing and adapting my workout routine to accommodate the current circumstances. Prior to lockdown I was attending the gym 3 times a week but I now find that I'm exercising at least 5 days a week, usually a HIIT or dumbbell workout in the morning before work, sometimes after work too with longer workouts at the weekends.

Has the type of physical activity you do changed since lockdown began?

Yes I've had to become a bit more creative with my workouts even using some old patio slabs as weights to create an outdoor gym of sorts to supplement the limited dumbbells we have at home. I've also reverted to my pre-gym days and dusted off the old workout DVD's including kickboxing which I've never done before but really enjoyed and off course there are loads of workouts available on YouTube. In addition to the weights and cardio I've started to introduce daily yoga sessions for flexibility which I'm absolutely loving.

What inspired you to start this activity? What do you love about it?

I wanted something to supplement the 20 minute morning HIIT sessions and I thought Yoga would be a great way to provide a good stretch for sore muscles and improve my flexibility. A quick search on YouTube provided some short 10 minute morning yoga sessions which I used to compliment the rest of my workout routine. I've even started to do longer yoga sessions on my rest days now, not only is it helping improve my flexibility it's also great for building strength and actually really helps to wake me up in the morning.

Do you think you’ll keep up this activity as we come out of lockdown?

Definitely, I can't wait to get back to the gym and start lifting weights again but it looks like I will continue to work from home for some time which gives me more flexibility in the mornings to continue with my morning yoga.

Have you found a new way to fit movement into your daily routine at home? We'd love to hear from you!