Love-hate relationship
I am in a love-hate relationship-with the elliptical machine at the gym. For the first few weeks of my exercise plan, I would look dubiously across the room at the contraption thinking, "That doesn't look so tough." I was getting bored with just using the treadmill all of the time, so one day I decided to give the elliptical a try.
After a quick lesson from Lindsay, the gym manager, I began. It only took one minute for me to wonder what the heck I had gotten myself into. My thigh muscles began to scream, which I found surprising since I had been doing 30 minutes on the treadmill along with the weight machines for about 6 weeks. Wasn't I in better shape than this?
My plan to do 20 minutes quickly diminished to 10. By the time I got off my legs were wobbly and it took a moment for me to get my stride on the treadmill to finish my cardio workout.
The strange thing is, even though the elliptical kicked my butt, I couldn't wait to do it again. There is something about the way my body moves on the machine that is enticing. I also like the feeling of really giving my body a workout. I'm up to 15 minutes now, though I'm keeping myself on a pretty slow pace.
Is there an exercise that you dread, or one that you hate but can't seem to stop doing? Does yoga's downward facing dog send you running for the nearest door? (It does me!) Is there a weight machine that has you tied up in a pretzel? (We all know what one I'm talking about!) Share your stories.
It is easy
Hi Karmie,
It is so easy to put exercise on the back burner of life when we are busy. The ironic thing is that if we get more exercise, after a point we have more energy to deal with a hectic life.
One tip that could help is to remember that even though the recommendation is to get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day, you don't have to do it all at once. Ten minutes here, five minutes there, works just as well, as long as if at the end of the day it equals 30 minutes. (By the way, I'm still not exercising every day. So far I have averaged 3 to 5 days a week.)
Doing the 'Gym' Thing
Although I'm really fond of the gym, and had a membership at Gold's in Manchester when I lived there, I'm into a 'not spending any extra money' phase right now as we get our new business going. However, we just got cable and there is FITTV on it, so I'm going to try to do Yoga in my living room.
Yoga
Susan,
Did you know that yoga is actually a great way to strengthen your muscles? See, you don't need the gym after all!
I think we all need to find our own individual way to fit exercise into our lives. The main goal is to just get moving.
I'll have to check out FitTV for those days that I don't go to the gym and the weather keeps me indoors. I noticed that it is also available On Demand.
Update
I have discovered the secret to mastering the elliptical machine...reading. When I read while on the machine, the time flies by and I don't constantly think about how difficult it is to do. Reading may also keep me from going to fast, which is a good thing for a beginner. I am now up to 20 minutes.
I would say exercise in general does this to me. I dread getting on the treadmill or doing weights or going for a walk but once I do it I wonder what I was dreading. Why is it so hard to just start? I have a hard time finding time, or making time I guess would be more accurate to say.