Working out (then and now)

I have been working out regularly for decades. That is pretty crazy to say, since working out has never been required by any part of my life. I have just always prioritized it consistently, since my early 20s, when I realized how important it was for my emotional (and physical!) health.

Of course it has looked different over the years. In high school I swam competitively. A torn rotator cuff put an end to swimming, but later I ran (I’ve run a marathon and a few halfs) cycled (I’ve ridden several centuries and one two-day, 180 mile ride). I rock climbed regularly at an indoor gym for many years. I’ve done spinning and kick boxing and Pilates classes at gyms. We’ve had an elliptical at the house since we moved here (12 years ago) and I’ve had a (used) Peloton bike for a couple years. I started doing strength classes, first with DVDs and then with streaming services – BeachBody and now Peloton – since the pandemic. And I’ve been practicing martial arts for nine years.

For 20+ years I’ve always been doing something, usually a combination of cardio and strength, at least four days a week. These days I’m working out five days a week, and I have to admit that lately my motivation has been waning. This summer I was doing several 45-60 minute bike bootcamp or strength classes a week. Now I rarely manage a 45 minute class and 60 minutes of exercise has become pretty rare.

But I’m still working out five times a week. Usually that looks like at least one 30-45 minute Bike Boot Camp (or Intervals & Arms rids), one 30 minute Strength class with a 10 minute Lanebreak ride on the bike to warm up, 1-2 days of 2-3 hours of training at the dojo, and one run (or elliptical) day.

I never work out in the mornings, because that would necessitate waking up before 5am and I just can’t fall asleep early enough to make that feasible. Even on the weekends I usually workout in the afternoon or evening, excepting my three hour (12-3pm) Saturday training block at the dojo and if I run on Sunday that usually happens by 1pm.

I try to work out right when I get home, so I’m done before the kids and husband are back from school and work. That can only happen if I don’t have an errand to run after work, but when I know I have the opportunity to get my workout done earlier, I make sure I have a class “stacked” in the Peloton app. Knowing what I’m going to do well before it’s time to do it, really helps me get started promptly.

If I don’t manage to work out right when I get home, it usually doesn’t happen until a lot later, at 7, 8 or even 9pm. I don’t love working out that late, but it does happen. This is possible now because my kids are old enough to do their bedtime routines without much prompting, so even if I’m the only adult at home, I can squeeze in a workout right before my kids go to bed.

The elliptical machine is upstairs in our living room. It takes up the entire wall at the front of the house, against the windows.

The Peloton bike lives in the downstairs kitchen (our bedroom is a 400 sq ft inlaw unit behind the garage that has it’s own small kitchen, which we use to store extra food (our real kitchen has no real pantry) and our Peloton bike!

I do strength training classes in our bedroom, where I rollout a 4x6ft mat (this is new and is a GAME CHANGER! Highly recommend over a regular-sized yoga mat) and pull out 5-20lb weights that live in boxes under a storage bench.

I play classes on my computer, or if it I s a Bike Boot Camp, I cast the bike’s screen to a Roku stick on a $90 monitor that has speakers, because there wasn’t enough space in the kitchen next to the bike to do strength exercises.

I run pretty much only in parks or on trails. My favorites are San Bruno Mountain Park, near my house and Sawyer Camp Trail near my work.

There is also a 3 mile loop behind a subdivision near my work that the local junior colleges keep up for cross country meets that I really like, and of course the two mile stretch of the Great Highway where I run and my kids ride their bikes.

Besides a couple other random spots that I visit very infrequently, those are the main four places that I run. My runs are generally 40-60 minutes, so around 4-6 miles. I prefer to run on my way home from work (I pack running clothes and shoes and change before I leave), or on Sundays if the weather is nice in the city. I do have to time my runs around eating, because if I eat anything substantial within two hours of running I’ll get a side stitch.

I’m not quite sure why maintaining an exercise regimen for so long has been so “easy” for me. I never stop exercising regularly, it just isn’t an option for me. I’m not sure quite why that is, it just feels like the way I’m wired. The question is never, will I exercise, it’s when and how will I exercise.

Having said that, there are days when I really don’t want to do whatever I’m slated to do. Sometimes I’ll switch things up and pick another class, or jump on the elliptical (where I can also write a post) instead of doing a more intense class on the bike. Sometimes I skip the dojo and do a shorter class at home. I try to honor my “whims,” because I know it helps me maintain consistency. I am good about getting in 2-3 days of strength work a week, but there is variability in what that looks like. Having different options does help.

I feel like there is more I could say about how I workout, but nothing else is coming to me. If you have any questions let me know, and I’ll answer them in the comments or write another post.

Do you workout regularly? Have you started and stopped doing so over the years? What has, and hasn’t, worked for you when it comes to exercise?