"Making Plans for Nadia" is the twenty-third mission of The Home Front.
Things have been tough in New Canton lately, but Nadia is still showing up with some seated workouts to keep you going.
EXERCISES: Bicep Curl, Chest Squeeze, Seated Leg Raise, Air Punch
Cast[]
Plot[]
Feel-good Tunes
Nadia is here to take you through some exercises she does when she's managing comms. Sorry it's not a more exciting introduction; it's been a tough few weeks at New Canton. Some runners decided to charge the superhorde and they lost people. If you've lost someone, or if you're just having a hard time at the moment, you should feel proud for just turning up! She's put together some feel-good songs to listen to while you get warmed up.
Keep Going!
It's Nadia's job to keep people alive. If someone who wants to keep you safe gives you an order like 'stay away from that giant horde of zoms' she thinks it should be followed. But being angry at her runners doesn't make it any easier to lose them. And blindly following orders isn't always good. All you can do is apply common sense, so when there's evidence that an order will protect you, it's good to follow it. For example, do some Bicep Curls for one minute! This next song is a favourite of Nadia's. She hates being told to 'stay positive', but 'keep going' is a message she can get behind.
Good Work!
Nadia can understand why the runners disobeyed orders. In a place like New Canton, all the restrictions can feel oppressive. But the next set of instructions will help you get the most out of exercise while keeping you safe from injury. Let's try some Chest Squeezes. Sit upright, with your head, heart, and pelvis in a straight line, and keep your abs engaged. If you've got a ball or weights, hold the object at chest level, and squeeze your hands. Slowly push your hands forward until your elbows are straight, but keep squeezing. One minute of this. Good work everyone!
This One's For You
Sometimes it's nice to have other people decide things for you, even if it's just songs on a playlist. Decisions use up mental resources, especially in an apocalypse. You don't have to make any decisions about what exercise to do next, because Nadia has decided for you. One minute of Seated Leg-Raises. Nice going! Time for another happy song while Nadia remembers Runner 24 and his love of dancing.
Take on the World
Nadia can help herself out by making plans for future Nadia. She likes to plan our exactly when she's going to exercise, read, and socialise. Finite blocks of time for socialising can be really helpful if you find it hard. Speaking of finite blocks of time, one minute of Punches! Punches make Nadia feel like she can take on the world. Keep punching, or have a rest during the next song!
Authorised by Nadia Al-Hanaki
When things are hardest, it can feel weird or self-indulgent to do something fun. But you can't look after other people if you aren't taking care of yourself. If you find it hard to allow yourself time to relax, it can help to make a routine where you schedule time specifically for yourself. Give your future self permission to have some fun, like dancing to this next song!
The Right Call
Someone's sent Nadia a letter about streamlining New Canton's recreation policies. There's going to be a free-form dance session every Tuesday night in honour of Runner 24. It's hard to put together rules for thousands of people at the best of times, let alone when there's a superhorde. All you can do is your best. Keep looking after yourself listeners!
Transcript[]
NADIA AL HANAKI: Hello, New Canton runners, and anyone else listening. This is Nadia Al Hanaki. Today I’ll be taking you through some exercises I do when I’m running comms. They can be performed sitting down. Grab some tin cans and a couple of bags, then start warming up. Wave your arms around, stretch, jog on the spot if you fancy some upright exercise.
I’m sorry. That wasn’t exactly an introduction to get the blood pumping. It’s just been a tough few weeks at New Canton. If you haven’t heard, we lost some people. Some runners took it upon themselves to charge the superhorde, and well… a lot of us have lost people we care about.
If you’ve lost someone or you’re just having a hard time at the moment, well done for tuning in. You should feel good about yourself just for showing up. And to help us feel good about ourselves, I’ve put together a playlist of feel-good songs. Well, with some help from Phil. Turns out I don’t actually have a full playlist worth of feel-good songs. Here’s the first one. Warm up while it plays.
NADIA AL HANAKI: It’s my job to give orders that’ll keep runners alive. Before the apocalypse, my instructions stopped planes crashing into each other, so I’m biased. I think if someone who wants to keep you safe gives you an order like stay away from that giant horde of zombies, you should follow it. But being angry with my runners for not following orders doesn’t make it any easier to say goodbye to them.
Besides, they were trying to destroy the horde. I can just imagine Runner Seventy-One rallying the others. “Come on, we can’t let this chance go. I know Nadia said not to, but think how many people we’d help!” And even I know it’s not wise to thoughtlessly obey orders. Not everyone has your best interests at heart. All you can ever do is apply common sense, so when there’s evidence that an order - like staying away from a superhorde - is a sensible one, it’s best to follow it.
For example, here’s a sensible order: do some bicep curls. For weights, put one or more of your tin cans in each bag, then grab the handles firmly in each hand. Got them? Good. Press your elbows into your sides with your forearms pointing straight down, palms facing forwards. Now bend your elbows to bring those weights up to your shoulders, then lower them back down. Nice work.
Keep doing that for one minute, starting now. You’ve done 15 seconds. Keep the movement slow and controlled, and don’t lock or jerk your elbows when you lower those weights. Halfway through. Try and keep your arms in sync. I like to imagine there’s an invisible bar connecting my two weights. Almost there, just 15 seconds to go. And that’s your one minute of bicep curls.
This next song is one of my secret favorites. It reminds me how important it is not to give up. I really hate being told to "stay positive", but “keep going” is a message I can get behind, so keep going while it plays. Lift those weights, breathe deeply, or dance.
NADIA AL HANAKI: A part of me understands why my runners disobeyed the order to stay inside. If you live somewhere like New Canton, rules and regulations can feel restrictive. We have a 40-page manual on toilet paper management. I mean, does it really make a difference to efficiency and sanitation if someone replaces the roll with the flap against the wall? Oh, if anyone on the New Canton toilet paper committee is listening, let me assure you I always follow the regulations. Please don’t reduce my toilet paper ration. Also, I appreciate the care that went into that manual. All those little diagrams are really helpful.
Speaking of helpful instructions, these next ones will help you get the most from your exercise while keeping you safe from injury. Let’s do some chest squeezes. If you’ve got a ball, medicine ball, or even a balloon to hand, grab it now. One of your weights would work, too. First, sit upright with your head, heart, and pelvis all in a straight line. Keep those abs engaged. Now hold your object at chest level, squeezing it between your hands. Feel your chest muscles contract. Slowly push the object forwards until your elbows are nearly straight. Keep squeezing throughout the movement. Nice. Now bring the object slowly back to your chest, squeezing the whole time. Good job.
Do that for one minute. Go. That’s 15 seconds. Keep your back straight. Halfway through. Focus on form. Don’t try and go too fast, and if your object is heavy, don’t try to push it out too far. This shouldn’t hurt. 15 seconds left. All done. Good work, everyone.
I don’t know about you, but that exercise gives me a mental workout as well as a physical one. It’s because you have to concentrate on so many bits of your body. If you’re up for it, keep doing chest squeezes during this next song. Otherwise, just keep moving.
NADIA AL HANAKI: I usually take Phil’s music suggestions with a pinch of salt. I mean, who has 25 minutes to listen to a prog rock retelling of The Odyssey? But that last track really made me smile. Sometimes it’s nice to have someone else decide things for you, even if it’s just the next song on a playlist. Decisions actually use up mental resources. That’s why certain pre-apocalypse executives used to wear the same thing all the time so they didn’t have to choose an outfit every day. At least having too extensive a wardrobe isn’t a problem for most of us anymore. I’ve got one head scarf for every day of the week, and it’s taken me years to build up that collection.
Anyway, you don’t have to make any decisions about what exercise to do next, because I’m going to tell you: seated leg raises. Sit upright once again. Keep your head, heart, and pelvis in a straight line. Put your hands on the seat to keep you steady. Now plant your left foot flat on the floor and slowly straighten your right leg until it’s sticking straight out in front of you. Hold for a few seconds and lower it back down. Nice.
Let’s do 30 seconds with each leg, starting now. That’s 15 seconds. Keep that core engaged and that back straight. Don’t slouch. You’ve done 30 seconds. Time to switch to your left leg. Go. Just 15 seconds left. You should feel it in your quads. They’re the big muscles at the front of your thighs. And you’re done. Nice going, everyone.
I’m gonna play another happy song now, and you can either keep doing those leg raises, have a rest, or just move freely. I know what Runner Twenty-Four would have done. I’ll really miss his dancing. He was never one to play by the rules of rhythm, or genre, or even taste. Runner Twenty-Four, this one’s for you.
NADIA AL HANAKI: I don’t have a personal assistant to make decisions for me, but I can gain some of the mental benefits by making plans for future Nadia. When I get a moment, I like to grab my colored pens and plan exactly when I’m going to read, exercise, and relax. Sometimes even with other people. Actually, as someone who enjoys other people in small doses, it’s quite nice to confine socializing to a finite block of time. Although uh, I might be making those blocks of time a little bigger in future. You never know what might happen.
Speaking of finite blocks of time, we’re going to spend exactly one minute doing some punches. Sit in a boxing stance with your fists up, right hand closer to your body, left up in front protecting your face from an imaginary target. Now jab forwards with your right fist. Shift your weight forward a little as you do this and follow through with your right shoulder, but be careful not to fall off your chair. Good. If you want to make this more challenging, hold those weights as you punch, but mind they don’t swing round and punch you in the face.
Now we’re gonna do 30 seconds of jabs on the right before switching to the left. Ready, punch. 15 seconds down. Don’t lock those elbows. And you’re all done on that side. Now switch stance so your right hand is guarding your face, because it’s time to punch with your left. Your 30 seconds start now. Just 15 seconds to go. Don’t forget to keep your core engaged. And you’re done!
Punches always make me feel like I can take on the world. I bet that’s how Runner Sixty-Eight felt when she left to take on the superhorde. Her fearlessness was infectious. Maybe if she hadn’t been so fearless, she’d still be here, but then she wouldn’t have been who she was. Just like Phil wouldn’t be who he is if he hadn’t been able to track down the extended feel-good mix of this next song. While it plays, keep punching, have a rest, or keep moving.
NADIA AL HANAKI: I’ve had times when I’ve had to deal with really difficult stuff. When things are hardest, it can feel weird or even self-indulgent to do something fun, especially when people around me are struggling, but I’ve learned that I can’t look after other people if I’m not looking after myself. If you find it difficult to allow yourself time to relax, here’s a tip from a professional rule-maker: make a routine that specifically includes time for yourself. If there’s a color-coded timetable telling me I absolutely have to watch an episode of Star Trek right now, well, I can’t argue with that.
It’s like giving your future self permission to have some fun. If that’s too hard to do - and believe me, I know how hard it can be - then I, Nadia Al Hanaki, authoritative comms operator and giver of very strict instructions, give you permission to dance, wave your arms, jump around, and have as much fun as you possibly can to this next song.
NADIA AL HANAKI: Not even I could help dancing along to that last song. Huh. Someone just pushed an envelope under the door. [envelope tears, paper rustles] Oh. It’s a missive about New Canton’s new recreation policies. Only uh, 37 pages long. [page turns] They’ve streamlined the amendments procedure so it should now only take a week to address suggested policy changes rather than two months. That’ll ease a lot of frustration.
[page turns] Aw! There’ll be a free-form dance session held every Tuesday night in honor of Runner Twenty-Four! Apparently everyone is welcome and there are no specific steps. “We encourage participants to move in whatever way feels good.” Oh, he’d have loved that.
It can’t be easy at the best of times writing rules to keep thousands of people safe and happy. It’s hard enough giving orders to a group of runners. But it’s especially hard to find a balance when there’s a superhorde on the loose. All you can do is your best, and hope you’ve made the right call.
So I hope you’re feeling better after these exercises. And if you’re not, well, that’s okay, too. These are tough times for all of us, but the important thing is that you tuned in and you did your best. Keep looking after yourself, listeners, and keep doing the right thing. I believe in you.
Codex[]
Letter[]
Hi Runner Five,
Phil here! I know this might go against New Canton policy given that you’re not technically a New Canton runner (I won’t tell them if you don’t), but Nadia mentioned you might like an invitation to our upcoming stay-at-home dance. There’s no pressure at all, but if you fancy having a bit of a boogie, I’ll be broadcasting the tunes from the dance on our regular frequency. I hope you’re keeping safe and doing well. We’re all thinking of you.
All the best,
Phil
Supplies[]
The following supplies can be found in this mission.
(List may be incomplete.)
Baseball Bat
Board game
Dress
First Aid Kit
Flashlight
Football
Laptop
Makeup
Mobile Phone
Overcoat
Pain Meds
Shirt
Shorts
Sports Bra
Trainers
Umbrella
Underwear
Whisky
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