A typical day for me starts with me waking up at 5.30 to get ready for work. Given the traffic is always crazy and I have to connect to work using two matatus, I am always in a rush. This is because I must leave the house at 6 am at the worst.
In the evening I leave work at 5 pm and start the crazy commute once again. The best time I get to the house is 7.30 pm by when I am already so tired I hardly have the energy to do anything. Thank God in Africa nannies are affordable and I have one. She will have taken care of the daily chores and the nice ones will even assist the kids with homework. This means the most that’s required of me when I get home is to shower, eat, and get ready for the following day. Believe me, it’s still tedious and I can’t wait to sleep. This is what I do immediately when I’m done with the above. This is my everyday life, save for the weekend when I opt to sleep in to compensate for missed sleep. Monday I start the routine once again.
From my routine, it’s fair enough to say I don’t have time to exercise, and so I don’t. The only exercise I ever do is walk from my house to the bus stop and between one commute and the other. That’s about a 15 minutes’ walk at my own pace depending on how early or late I am. As such this wouldn’t count as regular and effective exercise. Woe unto the people who have cars because they don’t enjoy this walk, yet they sit all the time stuck in traffic. It seems not having a car is a blessing in disguise as it forces me to walk between commutes.
My lack of exercise came with a price as it led to me developing some problems. I got perpetual tiredness that seemed to never go away. Then I developed muscle aches which became synonymous with me. The pain got so bad I had to visit a doctor. I was prescribed expensive massage sessions. Ironically, part of the treatment regimen even had stints at the hospital’s gym. Surprisingly the hospital massage and gym sessions helped to completely eradicate my muscle pains. It’s been five months now and the pains are all gone. I felt the pinch of visiting a hospital gym and paying hourly rates equivalent to a monthly membership for a gym near me. However, the truth is that those costly sessions made a significant change to my health and my attitude towards exercise.
The fact that the hospital massage and gym sessions helped made me realize that what I needed was to exercise regularly. I could choose to do it in my house, go for a run, walk or join a gym. I haven’t joined a gym yet but I make sure to exercise daily. Additionally, I bought a simple and affordable stationary exercise bike that I use for cardio exercises, muscle strengthening, and weight loss among others. Nowadays, I hardly skip a day without either using guided exercise routines on Youtube on working out on the bike.
I have come to love exercising consistently as I have seen the benefits below:
- My tummy is disappearing
- The pain in my knees is greatly reduced
- The pains I had on the shoulders, breasts, ribs all but disappeared
- I feel more relaxed and no longer tired all the time
- I am depressive and exercise leaves me feeling motivated and bubbly every single time
In conclusion, I have learnt, you don’t necessarily have to go to the gym to exercise. Nonetheless, we cannot underrate the advantages of using a gym. There you will find trained personnel who will address you individually and help deal with your unique concerns.
However, the best part is that you can also comfortably exercise without paying a cent. You can go for a walk, run, biking or swimming in public pools which are free or very cheap.
Additionally, there are simple ways to exercise in the comfort of your home. Like me, you can use guided Youtube videos and exercise alongside others. You can jump rope, do pushups, planks, vigorous dance, yoga, and even hula hoop.
Florence Mararo is a health, wellness and fitness enthusiast living in Nairobi, Kenya. You can read more of her work at https://medium.com/@nyawiramararo and
www.linkedin.com/in/peninah-nyawira
