With our routines busier than ever, fitness buffs are embracing a new pilates routine that can fit easily into daily routine moments, such as waiting for an elevator, standing at a bus stop, or crouching in front of an open fridge holding a spoon and shovelling peanut butter straight in.
“Post-pandemic, people expect more flexibility in their workout routines,” fitness coach and influencer Lara Lindf told reporters.
“A lot of my clients don’t want to have to drive to a gym and be stuck at a 60-minute class, or work around a trainer’s schedule. Studies show it’s more efficient to get your reps in in small chunks. Try doing a half moon bend into the fridge and reward yourself with a refreshing drink of fudge after you get your macros in. Then, once you’re done your set, you can cool down with a slow forward curl into the bottom shelf, stacking each vertebrae one by one as you lower your face tongue-first into a Tupperware of last-night’s lasagna.”
Positive lifestyle changes work from home has brought are myriad, Lindf said in an interview: longer sleep, eliminating stretches of sitting during commutes, and the opportunity to do highly beneficial exercises like squats performed in the pleasant cooling chill of an open fridge, or, for more advanced practitioners, open freezer.
“Fridge time is my time,” Leah Frun, one devoted practitioner, says. “Instead of having to learn complicated mantras or spiritual guidance, I just quietly chant out the ingredients on the back of the open jar of Renee’s blue cheese dressing I’m working out with.”
“And I can put my exercise mat right in the dishwasher when I’m done!”
Nevertheless, Lindf warns new practitioners that it’s important not move too fast. “Crunchy peanut butter is more varsity level. You’re not going to want to try that until you’ve got a least a year of fridging under your belt. Smooth peanut butter is a lower impact version that’s more suitable for beginners.”
While some skeptics have pointed out that food during exercise can be a distraction, or that this new exercise could at the very least do the exercise with an actual sandwich with bread on a plate, acolytes continue to say that this approach is way more convenient if you’re also trying to finish a beer while you’re doing sit ups.
