Time to Workout

Choosing the right workout can be a very tricky business. It can often involve a lot of trial and error, but once you do find the right workout, you’ll know that the effort was worth it. Part of the difficulty is that everyone is different both in body and mind so that what works for your best friend may not work for you. In addition, our bodies and minds are always changing so our workouts will also need to change in order to keep us interested and challenged.

What constitutes a workout?

A workout can be defined as any form of exercise that elevates your heart rate for a defined period of time. The possibilities are endless. A power-walk to the dairy at lunchtime or back to your parked car after work is just as worthy as an hour spent at the gym. Whilst the energy spent will vary between the two, a ten minute walk is better than nothing at all.

Enjoyment

Workouts during my life have included playing weekly hockey games all though school, regular weights and aerobics sessions at the gym throughout my university career, and then on to the real fun stuff like mountain biking, snowboarding, hiking, and rollerblading which I did a lot of in my twenties and early thirties. As I’m nearing my forties, I find that I have a lot less time to do all the weekend, outdoorsy things so these days exercise is the one or two hours on most days that I spend at the gym doing a range of classes. A workout can and should be any form of exercise that you enjoy and have time for.

Time

No matter how busy you are, there is always time for a workout because it can be only ten minutes if that is all you have time for. If you want to incorporate regular workouts into your life, then it’s important to sit down and think about the time you have available to fit workouts into your daily schedule. It helps to think of workouts as being just as important as eating and not as something that you can skip if you don’t feel like it. If a workout can be a mere 10 minutes out of your day, then there is absolutely no excuse for not doing it. I do one hour classes at the gym. I find that having a timeframe that is not set by me helps me plan the rest of the day. This way, there is no danger of my workout running overtime.

Location

Where you workout can often play a large role in what constitutes your workout. I used to cycle to and from work once a week so the location was my transit between home and work. I used to mountain-bike at a bike park about 30 minutes from my home so this was always a weekend activity. I belong to a gym that I can walk to after work and which I drive to on my days off. I live on a street so worst case scenario is that I can walk around the block if I’ve overeaten at dinner. I’ve also had gym equipment that I’ve used at home. You don’t have to have transport in order to work out. A walk around the block can be just as invigourating as a one hour session at the gym.

Clothing

Working out doesn’t usually require clothes that you wouldn’t already have in your wardrobe. If you are concerned with keeping up with the Joneses then always procuring yourself the most fashionable workout clothes can be expensive. Whilst you can pretty much wear whatever you want when you workout, a good pair of workout shoes is important. If you do a lot of cardio exercise then supportive, cushioned shoes will keep you comfortable for longer. If you do RPM or spin classes at the gym, you will find that investing in a pair of padded shorts and a pair of cycle shoes with cleats will empower your workouts to greater heights. If you do yoga, then you don’t need any shoes at all!

Equipment

If you workout out at a gym, you don’t need to provide any of your own equipment unless you prefer to use your own yoga mat or listen to an ipod when you workout. Other workouts like mountain biking and snowboarding can obviously require expensive equipment. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to rent equipment whilst your learning these activities because it can sometimes take a few sessions to work out if it’s love or just a brief affair. If you prefer to workout at home, then the purchase of equipment can be necessary. There are places that rent out equipment for use at home on an ongoing basis so that may be worth looking into before you invest large amounts of money to buy gym equipment for use at home.

Cost

I pay a monthly fee to attend my gym. I pay a yearly fee to use the mountain bike park near my home. I buy a season pass to snowboard at my favourite park. Whilst these activities cost money, there are many workouts that don’t. Rollerblading along the boardwalk, cross-country running in public domains, or just power-walking along the street costs nothing. Keeping up regular workouts is just as much about finding a workout that fits your budget as well as your interests.

Knowing Your Limit

Whilst I’m very much in favour of jumping off the deep end when it comes to most aspects of my life, I don’t recommend it when it comes to workouts. I’ve pushed my body way beyond its boundaries when working out and have sustained injuries that will effect me for the rest of my life. When I was 26, I decided to take up squash which I did every day for almost two weeks without a break. This resulted in a lower back injury that has never fully healed. When I used to mountain-bike, I did this activity with a group of riders that were far more advanced than myself so a typical weekend would often involve me turning up to work on a Monday with fresh bruises on my legs and arms from repeatedly being tossed over the handlebars of my bike in an effort to keep up. In hindsight, I’m lucky that I didn’t break any bones. However, that luck didn’t hold once I decided to take up snowboarding. I broke my arm whilst attempting a very low rail at my local snowboarding facility. Whilst it all healed and I continued to snowboard, my indestructible attitude had taken a bit of a knock. As I’ve grown older, I’ve learned to be a better listener to my body. I’ve realised that if I want to keep my body healthy and strong as I grow older, then I need to treat it kindly. These days I do more yoga than any other exercise. It has surprised me more than other exercise in regards to the strength required to do it. If I’d known that ten years earlier, I would have ditched the weights and taken up yoga much earlier!

Away from Home

Working out when you are away from home can be a drama. If you’re on unfamiliar streets, it makes it hard to concentrate on just running or walking because you need to be mindful of where you are. Hotel gym equipment is very unmotivating when you are used to doing classes at the gym. When you are away from home and feeling unmotivated to exercise, just try ten minutes of whatever exercise that you can muster. I tend to walk a lot more in unfamiliar cities so if you don’t mind walking, it can be a good alternative to your regular workout.