By Tracy Gates
A few weeks ago, a friend told me he was taking the summer
off from squash. I thought he was crazy.
A week later, I walked into my gym at prime time and no one
was playing. I thought, where is everybody?
And then a week after that I competed in the Hyder—four
matches in two days. I played squash, scored squash, and watched squash. At the
end of the weekend, I was tired of squash. Not to mention that my elbow sorely
needed a break. I thought, time to do something else for a while. . . . But
that brought me to the big question: What??
Now many of you may already know how
you’re keeping in squash shape this summer. But for those of you who don’t, I
posed the question to a bunch of friends and acquaintances. What could I do, I
asked, that would keep me in shape and somewhat challenged? Something that
would let my squash elbow heal? The recommendations ranged from the predictable
to the novel (fly-fishing, anyone?), and as they arrived I realized I was
getting excited to try most of them out. So if your elbows or knees or ankles
or brain are yelling (or muttering) at you to take a break or just mix
something new in, here’s my list, courtesy of my squash and not-so-squashy
friends. As an extra, I’ve thrown in why each activity is good for squash and
where you might try it out.
Cycling – This was the most frequent suggestion, although the kinds of cycling
differed. A squashmate of my mom’s got hooked on the exercise bikes at her YMCA
after she dislocated her shoulder and had to stay away from her racquet for a
while. She likes the ‘expresso’ bike with a video screen that gives you a
course to follow and a pacer to keep up with. Although if I’m going to bike
indoors, I’d rather keep up with a spinning instructor and some decent music,
but that’s just me. Another friend who races occasionally suggested
“green-light synchronizing on Broadway riding a fixie.” Now that sounds good
for mental alertness, although one may end up with more than a sore elbow…. I
think I may stick to something in between and bike commute to my office once or
twice a week. That’s about 45 minutes door to door, so it’s a good hour and a
half work-out. Extra points for taking down a few non-alert tourists on the
Brooklyn Bridge.
Squash plus: Great for the quads and getting more vitamin D.
Swimming – A college friend who’s always been in great shape, even after two kids
suggested this. As did my mother. “It's
great for all parts, utterly exhausting, excellent for the back,” said my friend. I think my mother’s
rationale might have been more wishful thinking; she hasn’t been swimming in
two years since she moved to the landlocked country of Mongolia as a Peace
Corps volunteer. I’m happy to oblige them both; ocean, pool, river, lake – they
all work for me. And if you are injured, there’s often no better therapy; I
credit the Carmine Street (free!) pool to the speedy healing of my torn
Achilles tendon years ago….but that’s another story.
Squash plus:
Works out all of you. Easy on the joints.
Dancing — Now I love this idea. Maybe
I could just go clubbing all summer! Although I don’t think this is what my
friends had in mind, as this is what one wrote…. “try a beginning dance class
(hip hop, tap, etc.). It also will exercise a part of your brain that perhaps
hasn't been tickled in a spell as you must memorize a sequence of steps.” hmmmm. I’m not very good at memorizing
anything, except maybe locker combinations. But before I could afford a gym
membership, I used to shell out a mere $12 for two hours of dance-inspired
workouts at Broadway Dance Center. And prices haven’t gone up much since then.
Squash plus: Good for footwork.
Martial Arts – Tai Chi, Tae Kwon Do, Kempo Karate, etc. – For some reason,
I have never ever tried this, but whenever I pass the tae kwon do studio in my
neighborhood I am transfixed by the gracefulness and precision of this sport –
er – art. Years ago, my bike racing friend got out all sorts of teenage angst
and aggression by doing martial arts and says that tai chi has “all the skills,
strength, and focus without nursing multiple contusions. Slowing down that
focus, then speeding it up until it works like an explosion might be something
that could apply to squash in an interesting way.” I like that idea. I also
like the idea of wearing that loose cottony white uniform….
Squash plus: Good for precision.
Mountain climbing, rock climbing — I raise my eyebrows a bit at this
suggestion since one can’t exactly find a mountain around the corner here in
NYC. But one of my lunchtime squash partners boasts that he’s a squash phenom
(or something to that effect) after a few days of mountain climbing. All that
quad and glute exercise. It’s true, I can feel my glutes burning now just with
the thought of it. But the last time I climbed a mountain I came down with a
nasty case of the shingles soon after, and everytime I look at my hiking boots
I feel itchy. But maybe this summer I’ll climb back on a mountain.
Now rock climbing, that’s something
I’m sure would be good for focus skills. In squash, if you don’t put the ball
in the right place, you lose the point. In rock climbing, if you don’t put your
fingers or feet in the right place, you lose your balance. There must be some
correlation, no? I hear that the nearby Gunks are famous for their climbs, but
I thought I’d start at an indoor climbing wall near me in Brooklyn.
Squash plus: Good for quads, glutes, core, focus
Yoga —As I get older and less bendy, I tell myself I should get myself back
to the yoga studio. The problem is, my body likes to move fast, not slow. The
faster it moves, the less time it has to think what kind of pain it’s in. So
the opposite is of course true. But there’s nothing like the yoga high at the
end of a sweaty session and if I can counteract the tightness of squash with the
gumby-ness of Yoga, I may be looser on the court.
Squash plus: Great for flexibility.
Running —I used to love running, and some of the best work-outs of my life were classes
with the New York Road Runners Club. However, my knees gave me a choice a few
years back after marathon training took its toll—squash or running? It wasn’t
much of a contest. But while on a bike ride this past weekend, I noticed that
the pretty road by the river I was biking on was also a 5K race route, and it’s
as flat as a squash court. Come to think of it, there are races all over the
boroughs in the summer and there’s nothing like a little competition to get my
nikes laced and hitting the pavement. Since I’m not going to play squash for a
month, maybe a little running wouldn’t be SO bad…?
Squash plus: Fantastic for stamina, especially hills.
Ah, I could easily spend many more paragraphs waxing
athletically about all the sports and activities at our finger and toe tips
this summer. It’s a good thing, because I’m already feeling pangs of squash
withdrawal and I’ll need serious distraction. If you’ve got a favorite
squash-replacement-activity of your own, shout it out here. In the meantime,
whatever your sport of choice, enjoy the start of summer.
Great post, Tracy & thanks for the links! Further to dancing, try Basement Bhangra night at SOB's (on the corner of Varick & Houston). If you get there at 9, there's usually a lesson, and in 10 minutes, you'll feel like you've been on the squash court for an hour. If your elbows can take it, try badminton - fun to play outside in the summer. Just buy a portable net, if you're not too finicky. Beach volleyball is also a great workout - Long Beach (direct from Penn Station or Atlantic Ave, Bklyn via the LIRR) has quite a lot of games and tournaments during the summer months. Ask for the Long Beach special to get a round trip train ticket with beach pass. The station is a 3-block walk from the beach.
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