Just because I was sore (ahem, for four days) doesn’t mean I can just slack off on my workouts. I knew that at the bare minimum I could at least do an ab workout. I’ve learned over the years that no matter how sore your legs are from running/weights there are two workouts that always feel good: swimming or focused ab work.
Last night I warmed up with some jumping jacks (no pain) and then did tons of ab work with the Ab Burner. I didn’t burn as many calories just doing that like some of the other Nike App workouts.
Oh well, it was a modified routine–more as a recovery session than anything. After that I hopped on the bike trainer. I turned the resistance way down and did higher revolutions on the bike. It didn’t make my legs hurt, in fact it seemed to loosen them up a bit.
I did about 45 minutes on the bike and called it a night.
I did some stretching afterward. It felt so good to stretch. I wanted to do some yoga exercises as well but ran out of time. On a side note, check out this great article about different stretches: Swimming Stretches for Flexibility.
After my workout Michael and I made Braised Chicken and Spring Veggies for dinner. It’s a nice go-to chicken dinner that is pretty easy and not very time consuming. Plus there’s only a few ingredients (that we almost always have on hand). I poured myself a glass of Pinot Grigio while we cooked.
I really loved that bottle of wine. Gnarly Head is delicious. We didn’t have asparagus for the recipe so Michael chopped some onions instead.
I also steamed some cauliflower to go on my dinner only. I wanted a little extra veggie in my dinner.
It was good but it needed some more salt. Michael thinks the flavors were a little bland because we didn’t have chives (we substituted parsley) and the onions and carrots added sugar to the dish.
Last night’s #fitblog chat was really good. I loved the questions. They are great questions for discussion here:
Q1. How often do you workout each week and for how long? This is a good question. I think I’m a pretty active person so it’s hard for me to really figure out what should be considered “working out.” But I’d guess I spend about 7-8 hours a week total doing fitness activities. My swims are usually 55 minutes long. My gym sessions twice a week include running, weights and stretching and last about 1.25 hours. Biking once a week I spend about an hour. I think that’s pretty balanced.
Q2. What gets in the way of you completing your workouts? The only things that get in the way of my workouts are illness or injury. But with some injuries I can work around it. For example, when I had to stop running for a few months I switched to upper body weight lifting and kept swimming. In the #fitblog chat it seemed like the most popular answer was that they were their own worst enemy (i.e. wanting to be lazy, sleep in longer, etc).
Q3. If you could have one thing to make working out happen daily what would it be? I wish that I could have more time to workout in the morning before work (without having to get up at 4am to do so).
Q4. What are some creative ways you get a workout in? I liked this question a lot because there are easy ways to sneak in some fitness. I walk almost 2 miles to work almost every morning. I walk at lunch time when weather is decent. I part far away from the store so I have to walk further.
QUESTION: How would you answer those questions?
Beth @ Beth's Journey
My workouts depend on whether or not I’m training for something, and currently I’m not. I still try to workout 4-5 times a week usually for 30 mins – 1 hour max per session. Not getting up early enough gets in the way for me, and the most creative way I get a workout in is if I walk 3 miles into VA from work and take the metro from there instead of taking the metro right from work.
Lisa Eirene
Yes, training for things change up my routine too. Michael and I are still planning on doing the Portland Century this summer (100 mile bike ride) so once the weather improves we’ll be doing long bike rides on the weekends. Probably all day rides!
Marie
I just have to say, I started a bottle of the Gnarly Head Cabernet on Monday night, it is one of the tastiest I’ve ever had! I’ll have to try the Pinot Grigio!
I try and get my workouts in no matter what. I used to just go with what I was feeling that day, which I admit was part of my problem. I now plan out the days I have to workout, and what I’ll be doing that day. Give or take some minor tweaks, I have gotten really good at doing something no matter what 4 days a week, and incorporating walking or something else that is light 2 other days. Which is a schedule that right now works for me!
Lisa Eirene
Isn’t the Gnarly Head awesome? I love it! It’s probably one of my new favorite discoveries. You should give the Rascal Pinot Noir a try. It’s a great one too.
I have found that the best way to be successful for me is having a steady workout schedule that’s just part of my routine. Friday nights are my swim nights and that’s that. I can switch the nights if I have to but I prefer not to.
RI Rakib
Your experiences are very interesting, very motivating and thank you for sharing them, I have been practicing Yoga at home for about 3 weeks, and the truth is that I have felt quite well, more emotionally, because I have been going through several difficult situations, since the death of my wife, problems with my children and work problems, but the exercises and the desire with which I do them have relaxed me and I have mastered the stress a little more, in addition to being diagnosed with Cervical Osteoarthritis, and usually I always maintain the discomfort of the pain, I do yoga twice a day, at dawn and at night, I feel more like reading, and listening to music, and my way of thinking to see things in life is changing, I feel a lot of inner peace and that I like it.If you can tell me some special postures for Cervical pain, I would be grateful if you would tell me about them.