It is 11:35 p.m. on day 12 of 2011. I am getting my groove on with Rob Zombie's Dragula. This song always invokes visions of roller hockey or soccer mayhem. One vision is of me breezing past the opposition and scoring the winning roller hockey goal. The other is of playing soccer in the pouring rain somewhere in Germany with my girlfriends against a pack of mean girls. It is a gray, mucked-up scene with mud-streaked body parts, drenched soccer shorts, cleats, and gnarly hair.
As day 13 of 2011 begins, I am thinking about Exercise Help: Gym Phobic?, a healthy-living post I read at The Huffington Post this week. It talks about why some people avoid working out at the gym. What I concluded are two points.
Point 1: Do What Works for You. Many of my friends maintain early-morning exercise sessions. This means waking up well before dawn to complete exercise before work and/or parenting. Early-morning time slots do not work for me. I am not an early-morning person. Making it fully dressed — with hair and makeup done — for breakfast duty at 6:30 a.m. is early enough for me. My preferred workout time is 9:00 p.m. because my children are in bed. Night-time workouts serve as my way to de-stress. Plus, there are minimal interruptions for food/drink requests and no distractions from Zhu Zhu Pet battles. I am consistent with keeping this appointment because it works for me.
As for the gym vs. home, I prefer home or the great outdoors. In the winter I love my home gym. It is equipped with an elliptical machine, weight machines, free weights, jump ropes, exercise balls, resistance bands, a superb audio system, and a projection screen system for my Biggest Loser DVD sessions. I also go outdoors to ice skate, sled, or cross-country ski. In the spring and summer, I play tennis, walk, run, roller blade and cycle. My friend and sometimes fitness partner, Lisa prefers fitness classes at the gym. The company of others — especially a 70-plus classmate — motivates Lisa to push herself harder. She also runs, walks and works at weekly Weight Watchers meetings. All of this works for her.
Fitness classes are great because there are some forms of exercise (Zumba, Pilates, Yoga, and Martial Arts) that I want to learn that would be challenging or boring for me to do alone at home. Plus, I like to get out of the house — periodically — and leave my husband in charge of the children.
Point 2: Stick With It. Last night, a long-time friend blogged about how she kept to her fitness regimen despite having a hard day at the office. Her post kept me off the couch, too. My friend attends her Zumba and Pilates classes because they are fun. I stick with my Biggest Loser DVDs because I enjoy the routines. When I need variation, I switch to interval training and watch Joy Behar's show, take a karate class, or walk to U2 on my MP3. If you missed your session, do not break into a sweat. Just do it tomorrow. Don't burn yourself out. Everyone needs a break. I usually take at least one day off a week.
On Friday, I am trying something new. Stoney Creek Metro Park has snow shoe rentals. I have always wanted to do this. There is plenty of snow out there. So, why not?
