I will be the first to say that I am a chicken. I get scared very easily, so much so that I couldn’t watch Star Trek until I was 13, the first two Harry Potter movies without covering my eyes until I was 18, and the Lord of the Rings until I was 21 years of age. Those aren’t even considered scary, so you can only imagine how I react to those things that are truly scary.
Halloween is a trying time for me as spooky is ever present in the decorations, movies, and events of this time, like haunted houses. In my humble opinion, I feel that the proper way to get through a haunted house is to prepare mentally and physically. Below is a suggested list of exercises to help keep your body in tip top shape to get through the haunted house and keep your heart rate at a healthy rate. If you are anything like me, then these tips might be just what you need to join your friends on a spooky adventure.
Exercise #1: Interval Training
This is a great workout to prepare yourself to sprint at a moment’s notice out the door and way from the haunted house. The stop and go nature of it also allows your heart rate to become more efficient. This you can also do with friends!
Essentially, it’s a walk/jog/sprint pattern that is repeated multiple times.
Go to a park or just go outside.
Begin with a five-minute brisk walk warm up.
Look for a marker (a tree, a trash can, a light post, etc.), then begin with a walk. Choose another marker and then begin to jog. Choose another marker and then sprint, then repeat with a walk again. Continue this until you have done at least 15 minutes of this. If you want a mantra to push you through it, think: “scary feet, scary feet, scary feet.”
Ideally the length of these markers would reduce to about this in time:
Jog for a minute, sprint as fast as you can go for 30 seconds, and then walk for a minute for recovery. Repeat this walk/jog/sprint pattern about 10 more times. You just got yourself a fun 25-minute workout.
Exercise #2: Lunges and kicks
This is for those who need strong legs so you can be ready to dropkick anyone who gets too close to you.
Begin with your feet shoulders width apart. Lunging forward with your right leg. Hold for a second. Kick your leg backwards back into place. Repeat on the other leg. That’s one rep. Do this 10 times on each leg.
Next lunge sidewise with your right leg. Hold for a second. Go back to the start. Kick with the same leg out to the side. Return to start. Repeat on the other leg. Do this 10 times on each leg.
Hopefully with these two workouts: cardio and strength training, you’ll be ready to get through this spooky season!
