Friday, July 31, 2009

Putting The Work Back Into Workout

For the past six weeks, I have gone to the gym every single day (well, except for the days we were on vacation). "That's great," you may say. "You must have gotten amazing workouts."

Well, not so much. You see, the reason I make it to the gym every single day is that the toddler loves the child care there, and I desperately need him to expend some energy... Plus, I love that he gets to interact with other kids. Since I am at the gym, I work out. Well, sort of. That is, watching me, it sure looks like I work out: I wear workout clothes, I carry a water bottle around, I lift weights, I run on the treadmill, I use the elliptical, I climb the stair climber. I even sweat a good amount. But what I don't do is push myself to the place where it gets just a little bit uncomfortable, and that's the place where I really get a good workout.

For the past six weeks, I rationalized that since I "worked out" every single day, I didn't need to push myself so hard every single day. And that's a valid point, especially since I have a weak ankle. However, I started to not push myself at all... I daydream while I lift weights instead of focusing on the weights. I "go through the motions" while on the elliptical. You get the point.

So my plan is to still take it easy on some days but to push myself a bit more on at least two or three days per week. We'll see how it goes...

Questions: Do you ever find you don't push yourself hard enough when you work out? Or, do you push yourself too much? What do you do when either of the two happens?

Be well,
Andrea