April 9, 2026 was a holiday.
And like most Filipinos on a holiday, I had two choices: stay home and do nothing productive, or do something active and call it self-care.
We chose active. My wife and I joined a badminton session with my officemates — seven of us in total. Not professionals. Not even particularly coordinated. Just a group of government employees who decided that moving around a court for a few hours was a better use of the day than staring at a ceiling.
Simple plan. Simple joy. Simple consequences. 😅
What We Walked Into
When we arrived at the venue, the others were already deep into their game.
Sweat-soaked shirts. Fast rallies. Full energy. They had clearly been at it for a while and were already warmed up in every sense.
My wife and I had just arrived. Fresh from the house. Cold muscles, cold joints, zero preparation.
And before I could even set down my bag properly, someone handed me a racket.
No stretching. No warm-up. No "hey, you might want to loosen up first."
Just: here, play. (Pre Oh! ikaw ikaw na)
The Mistake We Made With Full Enthusiasm
We jumped right in. Literally.
Jumping. Running. Reaching for shuttles. Lunging sideways. Pivoting. Chasing. All the things badminton requires — done at full intensity, with cold muscles that had received absolutely zero warning about what was coming.
A proper warm-up widens blood vessels, raises muscle temperature for better flexibility and efficiency, and by slowly raising your heart rate, also helps minimize stress on the body during exercise. American Heart Association
We did none of that.
We just ran straight into the fun — which, to be fair, was genuinely fun. The rallies were exciting. The laughter was real. The energy of playing with friends on a weekday holiday is the kind of thing that makes you forget you are technically exercising.
Warming up also may help lower muscle soreness and lessen injury risk. Mayo Clinic
May help. Key words.
The next day, my body had a detailed opinion about skipping that part. Classic delayed onset muscle soreness — the kind that arrives quietly the morning after and announces itself the moment you try to stand up from your chair. The irony of a man who already has a broken government office chair then also having sore legs is not lost on me. 😅
The Good Kind of Sweat
Even with the soreness — and it was real — I loved every minute of it.
After long hours of IT support, label design, office reports, and sitting in a chair that has been quietly trying to retire since 2019, that kind of full-body sweat felt like the body finally saying: thank you for showing up.
There is something deeply satisfying about exercise that happens naturally — not from a structured gym session with a plan, but from chasing a shuttlecock with your officemates while someone screams "OUT!" about a shot that was obviously in.
It felt refreshing. Mentally relaxing. The kind of tired that comes from moving your body with people you genuinely like, doing something that required nothing except showing up and playing.
Sometimes that is the best workout you can have.
My Huawei smartwatch
One thing that made the session even more interesting was my Huawei smartwatch — a birthday gift from my wife last year. ❤️
While playing, I kept checking my heart rate between rallies. Watching the numbers spike during intense exchanges and slowly settle during breaks. Seeing how active I actually was during the game.
Health tracking usually feels like data. Numbers on a screen. But during moments like this — with friends, on a court, mid-rally — it becomes something different. It becomes a story. The heartbeat that went up when we were down by a point. The recovery that kicked in during the walk between games. The step count that kept climbing all afternoon.
That small device on my wrist turned a holiday game into something I could actually measure and remember. Not just "we played badminton" but: here is what your body did that day. Here is the proof that you moved.
My wife gave me the watch. My wife also joined the game and played through the same muscle soreness I did the next morning without complaining once, which tells you everything about who the tougher person is in this marriage. 😄
Fresh Buko on the Way Home
After the game, my wife and I decided to walk home instead of immediately getting a ride.
The walk itself felt natural — a slow, comfortable cool-down that neither of us planned but both of us needed. The legs were tired. The shoulders were feeling it. But the pace was good and the air felt clean after all that effort.
On the way, we found a buko vendor. 🥥
We bought two fresh bukos. Sat somewhere. Drank them slowly.
I have had buko water many times — it is a regular part of my health routine especially after my kidney stone experience — but there is something different about the way it tastes when you are genuinely thirsty and genuinely tired from real physical activity. It was cold, sweet, and exactly right.
Simple moments like that do not need a lot of explanation. You just know it was a good day.
The One Thing to Remember Before Your Next Game
If there is one lesson from this holiday session, it is the one that everyone knows but almost nobody does:
Warm up first.
Even five to ten minutes of light movement before jumping into a sport makes a real difference — not just for performance, but for how your body feels the next morning. A short walk, some arm circles, a few light lunges. Something to tell your muscles what is coming before you ask them to sprint.
A warmup slowly prepares the cardiovascular system for activity by raising body temperature and increasing blood flow to muscles — and may also help lower muscle soreness and lessen injury risk. Mayo Clinic
We skipped it. We paid for it. We would probably skip it again if the racket appeared fast enough and the game looked fun enough. That is just honest.
But at least now we know. And next time, maybe we take two minutes first.
Just two minutes. The court will wait.
Okay, Last Thing — I Promise
A holiday badminton game with seven people. No professional skills. No strategy. No warm-up, apparently.
Just movement, laughter, a little competition, and two fresh bukos on the walk home.
The soreness the next morning was worth it. The heart rate data on my watch was satisfying. The memory of playing with my wife and my officemates on a random Thursday holiday — that is the kind of thing that does not show up in a lab result or a fitness tracker summary.
It just stays with you as a good day.
I spend most of my working hours fixing computers, designing labels, and sitting in a chair that is older than my career. Days like this are the reminder that the most important system in the office is the one you take home with you every night.
Move it while you still can. And bring buko.
-Mavs
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