Sworkit on the Road

Guest Post: Miranda Boyink is a 16 year old who enjoys biking, writing, reading and knitting. She travels around the USA in an RV with her family. You can follow their adventures at www.ditchingsuburbia.com.

Most people tell me that I’m too young to be out of shape. But that’s not true. I was horribly out of shape, and I wanted to get back into shape. But, the problem was, I had no ambition. My day mostly consisted of things I could do in bed. Or on the computer. Nothing active, or even outside.

Until my dad introduced me to Sworkit.

My dad used Sworkit to do Runner’s Yoga before he went out and ran. He challenged me to do five minutes of yoga, after I teased him about being out of breath after his workout. After I did five minutes of yoga, I was out of breath. I started doing daily yoga with my dad.

But I didn’t stop there. Sworkit was so easy. I could just take five minutes out of my day every day, go outside, and work out. I started exploring workouts other than yoga, and I found strength workouts. And I knew I wanted to be strong. I had wanted to be strong for a long time, I just had no ambition to do it.

I started doing strength workouts using Sworkit about three months ago. I do both core and upper body, five minutes each, and swap them out every other day. The app shows me how to do the exercises, so I’m not at a loss when told to do ‘Spiderman Push-Ups’. I am much stronger now than I used to be. Carrying 25 pounds of cat litter at work? Easy. Lifting my 50 pound bike into the bed of our truck? No biggie. Even my older brother says I’m stronger than him.

Sworkit is so easy to do when we’re traveling. If we stop by a rest stop, I can just do a quick five minutes of working out right there in the parking lot. When we’re at a campground, I use my dad’s phone, unroll our stretching mat, and work out. (You can also check out where my dad likes to work out by reading his post on our blog — http://ditchingsuburbia.com/blog/dump-station-yoga)

Another thing I love about Sworkit is that it’s inclusive.

Anyone can do it. I remember one time when my dad and I were doing yoga down in Florida while we were caravanning with our friends. The nine-year-old and the seven-year-old came over and did yoga with us, and had fun doing it.

Some of the strength work-outs are hard for me, and I probably look pretty stupid doing them. One man I knew was passing by as I was working out, and he jokingly asked me if I was having a seizure. But I didn’t care much about it. I was getting stronger and that was all that mattered to me.

I’ve done Sworkit in many different environments. Under the leafy palm trees of Florida. By a beautiful river that flows into Lake Michigan. Gazing up into the dense spines of a pine tree. Any place beautiful and captivating.

I can feel now that I am stronger than I was before I started Sworkit. My core muscles especially are a lot better now. My arms sometimes don’t want to do push-ups, but I try as hard as I can. I wanted to get strong, and I wanted to get fit, and, thankfully, Sworkit has taken me there.