Xiaohongshu
Calisthenics is a type of bodyweight workout, where people progress to increasingly complex and strength-demanding movements. I decided to become a member of the Calisthenics Society during the first year of my PhD. I am a very organised individual who enjoys general admin, so I accepted the offer to become President of Calisthenics Club this academic year, with the hope that members who were more advanced in callisthenics would sign up to become Training Officers. However, no such help arrived! I was faced with the challenge of running a club with only theoretical knowledge of exercise progressions, and without the strength to do a single push up.
Now that I’m looking back, I’m glad I did it. I was pushed to my organisational and physical limits, and I had a lot of fun along the way. I did lots of research, got creative and got stronger. I rediscovered my love for High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) when I planned song-timed sessions to keep exercise fun during lockdowns. Nothing felt better than people saying they were thoroughly exhausted but feeling amazing after one of my HIIT sessions.
Personally, a lot of good things happened for me this year. I got a wonderful cat last summer and, since getting the hang of working on my PhD remotely, I am now working from the new home I bought with my partner. He is in the military, and was often deployed for months, so we are finally together after five years of long-distance! We are enjoying making our new house a home and planning for our wedding, which is (fingers crossed) happening in the summer of 2022 with all our family and friends. Lockdown reinforced some fantastic friendships from my undergraduate degree and helped me cut out those who are not healthy to be friends with. Life has certainly gone a completely different direction, but I am beyond grateful it has been in such a positive one.
Written Alice Leavey, BBSRC London Interdisciplinary Biosciences PhD Consortium