{health} How this Under Desk Elliptical Changed my Work Days

This year is all about simple lifestyle changes for me. Adding more veggie only meals, trying to regularly eat vitamins and moving my body more. Even though I grew up doing gymnastics for 13 years I've never been the best at exercising. Grueling practice, definitely, but running, lifting weights, etc. was not for me. This super portable under desk elliptical from Cubii is going to help me achieve that goal! Last Spring into Summer I was doing indoor and outdoor bike rides and would occasionally go on walks but I definitely need to move more during the work week. 

 

 

I've been using my Cubii for about a month and am already noticing changes. Parents or commuters don't hate me, but I have always had trouble getting out of bed before 8:30/9. I used to roll out of bed, go downstairs and start working at 9am. Now I find myself getting up before 8am so I can have my Goli vitamins and get a quick 30 minute "workout" in. I'm not into intense training yet, but will build up to it. For now my goals are at least 2000 strides a day and 30 minutes of pedaling. Some days I'll do more, some days I'll do a higher speed and intensity, but usually I'm at a leisurely bike riding pace at a high resistance.

My friend convinced me and Christian to run the Wine & Dine 5K at Walt Disney World later this year (he's doing the half marathon) so having an under desk elliptical will be great to keep my training going during the day.  Disney's training program for a 5K is 13 weeks, slowly building up your stamina. I feel like I shouldn't need too much training as it's only 3 miles, but if I run the whole way I'll definitely need more endurance. I'm more of a sprinter than a long distance runner. 

 

 

I've been easily able to transport my Cubii under desk elliptical to various rooms in the house. If I work in the dining room it fits under the table and if I'm in the living room watching TV I can place it right in front of the couch. It's also quiet so it doesn't disrupt Christian or clients if I'm using it on a work call. It has the option for different users too, so when Christian is in the mood for an under desk elliptical workout he can bring it into his office. I even brought it over to my parent's house once and my family members tried it out on the Guest user. It was quite the hit, ha ha! Even my brother's puppy was curious what all the hype was about.

 

 

I have the Cubii JR+ with Bluetooth so I'm able to track my progress in the Cubii app automatically as well as viewing the data in my Health app. It also has an LCD display for immediate info. Having measurable data is always helpful in keeping you to your goals, in my opinion. Christian is trying to get me to buy an Apple Watch now so I can really keep track of all my vitals and exercise - I've been resisting for years because I like small watches, ha ha. Another thing I really enjoy about the Cubii under desk elliptical is you don't have to wear sneakers, most of the time I'm just wearing socks.

 

Update: After I wrote this post Christian broke me down and I got an Apple Watch 8, haha! I've only had it for a week and a half but it's already motivating me even more. Gotta close those rings every day! I was going to remove the previous paragraph but I think it's funny that I went from "I don't need it" to "Okay, it will keep me more accountable" fairly quickly.

The mobile app has Cubii Studio+ classes so you can follow along different workouts. There are over 300 free classes to choose from for all abilities, needs, and body types. I particularly enjoyed the Mind & Stride and Stretch videos.  You can watch them on your phone or computer. If I did my sessions before work I would airplay to the TV so I could watch on the bigger screen right in front of me.

You can also find monthly Wellness Journii's - each month a pdf calendar with daily activities will be available for download. The app will also show you each day's tasks so you don't forget and will check them off for you if you manually or automatically put your data in the app. My Cubii arrived on February 1st so I was able to participate in (almost) the full month. The activities were such a fun way to get me to keep with my routine. 

 

February's activities included burning 120 calories, plan & prep 3 meals for the week, pedal for 20 minutes while listening to music and much more! These little changes in activity, and lifestyle reminders, kept workouts from getting boring. I'm optimistic I will continue to use my Cubii for years to come.

 

 

The under desk elliptical came almost fully assembled, we just had to add the foot petals and charge it up with the handy USB-C charging cord. The charge lasts quite a while, after my initial charge when it arrived I haven't had to charge it yet (it's been about four and a half weeks.)

 

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