. for sneakers .

 

My Views on Exercise…

I love being active… for the most part.

Truth be told, there are days where I simply can’t be bothered to get my lazy butt up and moving… and that’s perfectly okay. For real. It’s taken me a good, long while to really accept it, but the world doesn’t end, nor the body double in size, if a day or two goes by in which you don’t get your sweat on. Trust me on this one; I’ve missed, and still tend to miss, my fair share of planned workouts, and the only consequence of my lazy days is that I come back with even more strength and vigor the next day.

Rest. is. beautiful.

I’ve found that pushing myself too hard when I really don’t want to exercise only leads to a bad workout and me feeling tired and cranky… which kind of defeats the whole purpose.

Exercise should be done for enjoyment and health; it shouldn’t feel like torture.

If you really struggle with one type of exercise, don’t do it; find one that you actually look forward to. I firmly believe that everyone can come to love being active, as long as they find a form of exercise that they enjoy. For me, that happens to be running, yoga, and strength training… not always in that order.

 

Just Keep Running… Just Keep Running…

Let me start by saying that I’m definitely not a natural born runner.

In fact, I clearly remember hating it with every ounce of my being as I ran lap after painful lap in high school, and I couldn’t hang up my running shoes fast enough when graduation time rolled around. Eventually, I took it up again as a way to burn off calories, which only caused me to hate it even more.

Fast forward a few more years, another [extended] divorce from running, the influence of the blog world, and here I am running again. The only difference is that this time around I’m actually enjoying it. I don’t clock in any kind of crazy speeds or mileage, but maybe someday I will. For now, I’m simply working on building up my strength and endurance in a way that avoids injury and burnout… so far, so good.

If you’re trying to get into running yourself, I highly recommend checking out the Couch-to-5K running plan. It gradually eases you into running, while providing you with a concrete training plan to follow. It’s what I used, and it definitely worked without being too painful. Of course, mild [to moderate] discomfort is to be expected, but subsides over time if you push through and keep at it.

Workout Routine…

I don’t really follow any kind of strict training schedule, but I typically work out 5 days a week (for about 45 min – 1 hour/day), alternating between cardio and strength training, with light yoga/stretching/core work on a daily basis. On days where I can’t or don’t want to get a formal workout in, I like to introduce random spurts of exercise throughout my day. Whether it be doing lunges/squats in the kitchen while cooking dinner or some light weights while sitting at the computer, these sporadic bursts of activity always help to boost my energy and improve my mood. And hey, every little bit counts, right? 😀

I’ll be using this page to keep a rough activity log, as well as posting any workout routines that I particularly enjoyed. So keep an eye out if you’re interested or looking to try something new.