I used to wake up to workout in the morning. I hate the morning. I would wake up to the noise of the alarm and instantly be angry that I was up before everyone else. I would smash the button to silence the alarm and, grumbling away, wrestle my cold tired body into the first workout clothing my hands could grab. Sometimes I wouldn’t even do that- I would workout in my pajamas. Supportive people around me would say, “At least you were doing something to stay healthy! Right?”
Wrong.
Bleary-eyed and sore from sleeping, I would make my way downstairs and start my workout. I held a grudge against the whole ordeal that early in the morning. I did not feel more energized as I kept going. I did not suddenly feel motivated after a few moves. I would struggle through the whole thing, just wanting it to be over with. I wanted an extra hour of sleep instead or a nice hot tea with breakfast first. Because I was only looking forward to being finished, I rushed through moves and was so tired that I often got form wrong. This, of course, is a huge no-no, especially for an extra bendy person like me with bad knees, ankles and shoulders.
I ended up switching to afternoon or evenings for workouts. Last year, I would work all day, taking a one hour break in the afternoon to do a HIIT workout or a treadmill run just before I had to go pick up the kids from school. The joy of working from home made this routine possible. Now, I am so busy with my blog, house and preparing for a winter market with my crochet, that I don’t have time in the afternoon. Moving my schedule around has been problematic.
I have been having a hard time scheduling fitness in my routine. I was doing so well; I ran almost everyday and I did a lot of strength training. Then I just….stopped. The problem was that I did so much I was starting to feel burnt out and I took a break. Then, life got in the way. We moved, then we were setting up our new place, then we were settling the kids in their activities….and by that time it wasn’t a part of my daily routine anymore. We had also sold our treadmill, which I relied on to get me warmed up and geared up to do more. All excuses, but valid ones at the time.
The turnaround came when we purchased an on sale stationary bike from Canadian Tire. I started doing that for ten minutes a day, a couple of weeks ago. From that start, I stacked on a short ab workout (AlexisJeanFitness’s Sore to The Core routine). This week I am going to continue with the ab workout and the bike to get used to having a half an hour of workout to do. I think I will keep adding on until I have a time and routine I am comfortable with. This method was actually inspired by an article I found on habit stacking, which I love the idea of!
I will be more flexible with myself- I’m not going to beat myself up if I miss a day, and I am not going to do that specific exercise if I start to dread it. If I can’t feel motivated to do abs that day, I could go for a walk or go skating at the nearby outdoor rink or dance in the living room for a few songs.
Skating is rediscovered joy and it helps that my family loves it, too. Our son, Hunter, is a late lover of the sport, even after our attempts early on in his life- classes and outings with us didn’t help when he was really young. He is still a little terrified of it, but by the end of our night the other day, he was trying to glide forward and even practicing stopping. My daughter is like me, she just took to the ice immediately. We didn’t have to teach her the basics, she just stepped on the ice and felt at home. My mom says I was the same way. Now that we can all go as a family, we are planning to frequent our nearby ice-skating rink as much as possible while winter lasts. That is a workout in itself and it isn’t TORTURE, it’s FUN. So, so, so fun. I love being on the ice.
My son, finding his skating confidence.
My daughter, the tiny speed demon.
I think that is the key for me, planning things that aren’t all HIIT workouts in my basement, which gets stale fast. I’ve said this so many times before on my blog, but I get stuck in that stubborn, “if you don’t hate it and you don’t sweat, it isn’t a real workout” mindset. I swear if I keep writing this, someday I will break the cycle.
What sports does your family love?
What are inventive ways you’ve fit exercise into your day?
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