What are you doing to stay fit today?
Thoughts on the New Year and Fitness:
I haven’t been to the gym in, admittedly, a very long time. I’m holding onto my membership, but I stopped going regularly once I was taking my HITT classes, and then after that I took a break from intense exercise, and then it was the holidays… so why haven’t I returned to my regular gym-going? A few reasons:
1) It’s dark and cold when I wake up in the morning, and it’s dark and cold when I arrive home in the evening. Even though the gym is only a five-minute walk away, it’s not very appealing in the dark and the cold.
2) I don’t want to compete with the herd of New Year Resolution Gym Goers that are bound to be crowding the gym right now.
3) I’ve been doing pretty good at exercising at home. I kind of like being able to exercise in my pj’s.
4) The idea of going to the gym, even for the classes that I loved, just isn’t appealing. The thought makes me go “ugh” rather than “yay!” lately.
I still intend on going back to the gym, but for now I’m enjoying doing more of my workouts in the comfort of my own home. I think I’ll be more inspired to go to the gym regularly when the weather warms up and there’s more daylight.
What are you doing for your physical health these days? At-home workouts? Gym workouts? A combination of the two? Neither?
The first week of January’s Fitness Challenge
So far for my 31 Days of Fitness Challenge (#31daysoffitness on Twitter), I have done the following exercises:
Jan. 1: Walking outside for about an hour.
Jan. 2: Chair dancing (was taught by an instructor; I probably only did about 10 or 15 minutes of dancing total).
Jan. 3: Dumbbell strength training (2 sets of 15 reps each of 10 different exercises).
Jan. 4: Abs exercises (20 reps of six different exercises, plus a 2-minute plank hold and “the alphabet” exercise).
Jan. 5: Leslie Sansone’s Walk Away the Pounds 3 Mile Abs dvd, about 40 minutes.
Jan. 6: 5 minutes hula hooping. I’d intended on doing more than 5 minutes, but ran out of time. I was honestly sweating after just 4 minutes, though! Definitely not used to that kind of exercise. I’ll be bringing my hula hoop out more often, methinks.
If you’re interested in knowing what specific exercises I’ve been doing, and what I’ve been eating every day to fuel my workouts, check out my Health Writer Eats blog – I have everything documented there, as well as thoughts on weight loss!
Any exercises you’d like to see me try this month? What did your week look like, fitness-wise?
I haven’t tossed my hula hoop, but it spends 364 days a year in the closet. 🙂
My gym is around the corner, so I spend my workout hours there. Since I’m at home alone all day, it’s a great chance to socialize as well as get my exercise on.
It’s funny – I have 2 yoga mats, 3 sets of weights, a hula hoop, tennis racquet, jump rope, pilates band, etc etc… and yet on a REGULAR BASIS, I only use about three of those items.
At the same time, I just KNOW that if I were to get rid of any of those items, THAT’S when I’d want to start using them daily 🙂
I try to mix it up between home and the world 🙂
Actually I like the social aspects of my fitness center. I have lots of friends there!
Off to run a 7 miler….
Running a 7 miler? Wow! You rock.
I liked the social aspect of the classes at the gym – I didn’t really “know” anyone, but once you see the same people over and over, you kind of DO get to know them. I guess it’s sort of like the way we all “know” each other through blogging 🙂
I can’t wait until it warms up and we can work out outside.
Yeah! Going outside isn’t very appealing to me these days… ooh but next winter should be a decent temperature for you, won’t it? I’m going to come and visit 😀
Sagan, I love that you are changing it up & really, doing just what feels right for you. If you are getting the results you want, that is what matters!
I am a gym person & I go in the wee hours so the newbie thing is not a prob for me.
Working out early is good for that!
It’s hard to feel motivated to do anything much when it’s cold and dark, whether it’s “cold” (like here in Nor Cal) or “BLEEP’S SAKE, IT’s BLEEPIN’ COLD!!!” like in your area. 🙂
I tend to go in cycles with preferred workouts. Right now, work and personal life are crazy, so I’ve been walking mostly at lunchtime (sun fix!), or riding my stationary bike at home in the evenings. I signed up for Monday hula classes this month, and I have my “anchor” class, a crazy-hard (for me) strength class on Wednesdays at the gym. I’m also going to try a strength class they added to the schedule on Mondays. I haven’t really felt much like running or swimming lately, but I know those will come back into the rotation when I figure out when my next tri or running event will be.
(P.S. Thanks for your very kind comment the other day! Not that I don’t have room for improvement – heck, always! – but you’re right, enjoying where one is at can be a nice thing.)
Hehe! Yes, this is very much a bleepin’ cold place 😀
Cool that you’re doing hula classes! I just recently found out about hula classes in Winnipeg, but I think the studio is far from my house. And that anchor class sounds really neat.
rest.
You are so smart to change things around. I’m still sticking with walking, but really want to try Pilates or something that may help my posture!
Hi Sagan,
I have my own little gym in our basement with a stepper, treadmill, and elliptical. I have a lot of motivation that keeps me working out twice a day. I do cardio kickboxing at a karate studio 5-8 times a week. All you can do is try.
I find working out at stupid oclock removes the newbie resolution people. It is the “usual” people all crazy enough to be up that early 🙂