my ideal life is that of humans in e-wall: tied to a hoverchair with a screen broadcasting directly into my eyeballs. Unfortunately, here on Earth, we must occasionally move our bodies. I have never had an active lifestyle other than living in walkable cities that kept me in single the right amount of steps to balance things out. But I’ve grown old and now live in a city built for cars, so things have started to change. My jeans are a bit tighter and I am constantly fighting exhaustion. It turns out that doing nothing besides working at a desk doesn’t make you feel good.
At first, I tried to walk on a treadmill every day and stayed that way for a while. But it got boring quickly, and after a few missed sessions, I quit. I started looking for help on the internet. There are an unmeasurable number of fitness apps, services, and influencers parading their own shows, centering around the idea of sculpting the perfect body, but the only one that focuses extensively on feeling healthiest thing that caught my eye was an account called growwithjo (thanks to my TikTok For You page).
The creator, johanna devriesHe has an infectious smile while working out and posts reactions to his followers showing his own results using his exercise routines. These were not people who spent hours in the gym or followed rigorous diets. The moves looked easy, and dare I say, a little fun. I tried the videos of her myself and quickly found myself enjoying my time; the exercise movements are simple, but I was drenched in sweat and feeling the burn.
I followed Devries free youtube videos for a while, there are hundreds to choose from, but I knew I needed something that would require some accountability and follow through. A personal trainer was out of my price range, but luckily, there is a GrowWithJo app (iOS, Android). It’s the only app I’ve ever paid money for and I don’t regret it. It’s $20 per month, but you should go for the much more sensible option of $60 per year.
cardio queen
The app is categorized between workouts you can do on a given day and multi-week programs. I started with Easy Bounce Forward+, which is a five-day-a-week program for beginners to focus on their entire body without any equipment. (Some programs use equipment like dumbbells, but the app clearly states what’s required.) I love that I can select the days I want to work out and the days I want to rest, and then it sorts the calendar for me.
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