Other Ways to Exercise

        Since it is beginning to be told cold to run outside and I HATE running on the treadmill, I knew that I needed to find another way of doing cardio workouts. I heard of this workout video called “Insanity” and I thought I might as well give it a shot. Personally, I am not good at workout videos. When I am working out at my house, I have no motivation to actually go through with the workouts and find that I give up very easily. If you are going to do this work out, push yourself. Don’t let yourself give up as easily as I did or else you won’t see any results. To solve my problem, I found a friend to do the workout with me because I have more motivation when other people are around me that are also trying to get in shape. “Insanity” is very convenient because you can get a good work out right at your house and not have to go anywhere. Also, you don’t need to buy anything besides the video- no weights, no resistance bands, etc. If you are interested in trying Insanity, make sure you have a decent amount of space near your TV before you buy the video. Be ready to give it your all because even the warm up is very difficult! This video will provide you with an extreme cardio workout and will make you more toned and fit in only 60 days as long as you stick to it.

      If you don’t like working out in front of TVs or if “Insanity” just doesn’t seem like the right workout for you, try getting a membership at a local gym. Some gyms are very cheap, like Planet Fitness which is only ten dollars a month. I go to Planet Fitness and I love the judgement-free environment. Yesterday I went to the gym for the first time in forever. What I love about the gym is that it gives you a variety of things to do. If you hate running on the treadmill, then you can use the elliptical or the bikes. Also, you can do cardio, do weights, or use strengthening machines. For example, yesterday I stretched, worked out on the elliptical for 20 minutes with some resistance, did machines that work your arm like the chest press and the rowing machine. I also used the abs and back machine. Then, I ran for about 15 minutes and walked for 5 to cool down. My goal is to work different muscles everyday so while I might do a lot of arm strengthening one day, I might do leg strengthening the next day and switch off every day to give my muscles a break. It is important to give your muscles a break so you don’t run the risk of an over training injury. Your body won’t be able to build new muscle if you don’t give it time to heal. If you keep overdoing the same muscles, they won’t be able to keep up with the workouts. I used to never go to the gym because I would convince myself that I had no time. If you think about, all the time you most likely spend procrastinating, you could be spending it by working out.  What is great about the gym is that it gives you a break from your work and it is a good time to think about everything on your mind while getting your blood flowing. Some people listen to music and some even read a book on certain machines like the bike. If you feel like you have limited time, don’t go for long. Going for a short amount of time is better than not going at all. While working out, make sure you stretch, push yourself and NEVER give up.