Jesse Keller: Silver Linings Playbook

Is, or was, there anything to be gained from enforced social isolation?

We asked seven fitness professionals how it has impacted them both for good bad. And you can use their advice to make your own home improvements.

JESSIE KELLER
Air Force Sergeant, Air Force Dog Trainer, Fire Fighter, Figure Competitor

THE POSITIVE

I am not a traditional home workout type of person, but it did bring in some new training ideas which I think I will continue to use even when all of this is over.

I started to ruck again which was a military type of training I use to love, I find new hiking trails and wear a 50lb backpack and every thirty minutes I drop the ruck and do body weight exercises to make it even harder. I also did workouts from my Dynamize teammates’ IG lives and I got so sore doing movements that I have not done in a long time, it was great!

Trying new things really shocked my body and I couldn’t believe how much more I could do at home with limited equipment.

GOAL ADJUSTMENTS

I don’t feel that my mid-term goals have changed but how I look to achieve them definitely adjusted.

I am working to get stronger in my careers of military fitness, K9 and firefighting and have started to do more workouts with weighted vests or packs. I am also now a collector of big rocks as I don’t have heavy weight sets at home, but I can find some 30-40 lb rocks outside which became my new weight set for legs as well as shoulders.

I actually find it very interesting to see what I can use around me to help me in my fitness training. This time frame actually reminds me of my deployments and the stuff we had to come up with to do workouts which were always interesting. Some may look at a chair as a place to sit but now I look at it as my new step up bench or box jump!

ADAPTIVE EATING

My diet has definitely improved. I go to the store to get all my essential items and find myself staying far away from restaurants.

I limit going back to the store as often as I did because the quarantine makes it a very long process on shopping and honestly I just don’t have the best patience when waiting in line! I don’t buy anything unhealthy and then I am forced to use the food I buy at home.

This helps me a lot when eating clean because I don’t get the temptation of meeting my friends at restaurants where I sometimes will indulge in a sweet treat. Now for socializing, I find myself going on more walks and exercising instead of going to coffee shops or restaurants.

You can get free access to TRAIN for HER issue 86 and read the full article by clicking here.