Thankfully, before the pandemic hit, we set up a small home gym in a finished room behind our garage and I had hired a trainer. We have a set of Powerblock adjustable dumbbells, a stepper, a flat bench (given to us) and an adjustable incline bench. I also have a pull-up bar, and several strength bands that I can use to assist me in pull-ups on the bar. Also have a set of gymnastic rings that attach to the pull-up bar and do various stretches, or even a plank with the rings hanging a few inches off of the floor (the one thing I'm better than H at!); can also do rows with the rings.
All to say, while I don't have a squat rack or barbell, those adjustable weights allow me to do pretty much anything that those offer. Pre-that-time-we-never-talk-about on here, I lifted some pretty heavy weights for someone my age. Then I lost a bunch of weight because I wasn't eating enough and my weights went down. I remember about eight years ago, my previous trainer telling me I bench pressed more weight than any woman he'd trained before. None of my trainers have ever been very big on using machines, except leg press (which I obviously don't have now).
I found my current trainer almost two years ago, and told him my preferred style of workout was set training. So we use the adjustable weights and pull-up bar the most. The only dead lift I do is a Roman dead lift with my adjustables. A workout consists of five different exercises that we do in a round, then do three rounds.
I realize I'm very fortunate in being able to have a trainer come to my home twice a week. Because I get so easily distracted by my thoughts when I'm working out, sometimes my form needs correcting - I want to lift heavy, but with good form. While I do rest for a bit between exercises, I do need a longer break between sets. It kicks my butt. Lately I've been dealing with a shoulder that talks to me, so we've had to really lower my weight on my overhead press. And I overextended my TFL last fall, spending too much time on the ground one day doing garden work at our church. So I have to be careful, and having a trainer helps me to make adaptations to exercise as we go along. Otherwise, if something hurts, it would be my inclination to just skip it, as opposed to finding a different way to adapt that exercise so I can still work a certain group of muscles. When I'm lifting heavier (for me), I like having a spotter, for instance when I'm doing a bench press.
I also do Pilates twice a week at a studio, one of those times with a physical therapist. So I tweak things with her, too. I think there's a lot to be said about the two approaches actually complementing each other. At Pilates, they're always showing me more ways to progress a movement through destabilization. At that point, it becomes just as much of a brain exercise as a full-body exercise!
My anxiety is always higher on the days I do not work out. I usually try to at least take the dog for a longer walk those days, weather permitting. So yea, it is a form of therapy for me. We are in the process of planning a renovation for our new house on the East Coast, where we'll move to probably toward the end of this year. A priority for us is to put our gym equipment in the basement - but our basement ceilings are low, so we're actually going to have to excavate a small 6'x6' area so that when we're on the stepper, our heads won't hit the ceiling, and when we're (OK, H only) doing shoulder presses, the weights won't hit the ceiling.
I've finally gotten to the point in my life, though, that I give myself permission to back off on an exercise on a particular day if I'm just not feeling it, and not beat myself up over it. Last summer when we spent three weeks with our daughter 3000 miles away after she had her baby, I didn't really do anything other than lift/hold that baby, and walk. When I got back home, we had to decrease weights and take time to build them back up. In the past, that would have killed me, but now I know I can take some time off (I was sick most of this January, too), or sometimes I just tell my trainer - I need to move today, and I'm not looking to push myself. Because I know I'll feel like shit if I don't move at all.
