I pushed an ear out of
my mouth and attempted to wipe a dripping line of slobber off my neck.
WOOOF!
She was
relentless. I was too.
I stiffened my plank
as a paw landed on my shoulder blade. She nudged, I held on. 15
seconds left.
A headbutt to the face
then a literal butt to the face.
The timer hit my goal
and I dropped to the ground, much to her excitement. The barking began and
got aggressively louder as I walked to the dumbbell on my living room
floor.
I realized the slobber
was not unique to my neck and my hand slipped on the wet piece of metal.
Seinfeld was on as a hopeful
distraction to the bouncing ball of fur.
A load of laundry was in the wash. Sweet potatoes in the oven. If all went as planned I would finish my
workout as the timer went off and would fold laundry while they cooled.
It didn't and the oven began to buzz mid squat.
The smell of taters
putting the pawed princess in a spud-induced frenzy.
Sweets out, back to
the squat, barking resuming.
This was far, far from
the workout I had planned for this particular Tuesday. I had my gym bag packed the night prior,
exercise plan from my coach printed, and pre-workout consumed at perfect
timing.
But life is not
perfect and I was home bound after the work day, my plan to hit the gym
dismantled.
Sigh.
This is an overworked
theme and one that’s been exhausted by Health and Fitness magazines, personal
trainers, and exercise bloggers. But…I
will venture- sometimes I get asked the question, “how do you find the time?”
My helpful answer is
sometimes, I don’t.
Sometimes I literally
do not have time in my 24 hours to go to the gym for the workout I have
planned. Sometimes the tricks, tips, and
suggestions by aforementioned sources do not work.
Sometimes your kid
gets sick and you need to pick them up early, feed them antibiotics on the
hour, and get to the second kid’s school just in time for them to start
throwing up in your Volvo.
Sometimes you have meetings
until 7pm, a phone call with a crying friend that lasts until 9 and use the
last ten minutes before your head hits the pillow to toss something in your
piehole before you perish.
Sometimes you have a
12 hour work day, a doctor’s appointment at lunch, and get your car inspected
before you get (another) ticket.
In my opinion, these aren't excuses, they’re life. Other
posts and articles may say there are NO excuses. I say sometimes you don’t have the damn time.
What I have found, is
that you may not have the time for your workout.
But you do have the time to do something.
Unless you are strapped to a chair with a
straightjacket for 24 hours, there is usually time in your day to do something.
What is
something? For the day described above,
something was a plank/squat duet while cooking sweet potatoes, doing laundry,
watching Seinfeld, and being home for a puppy that was alone all day.
Something may be 10
quick air squats in the bathroom at work.
Something may be lunging
down the hall in your office building.
Something may be going
up and down the stairs 5 times every other hour.
Something may be
parking in the furthest spot in the ginormous mall parking lot while you’re
doing last minute holiday shopping.
Maybe it’s 10 pushups
while making dinner. Or tricep dips on
your kitchen chair while sending emails.
Or stretching your hamstrings while waiting for your dog to pee.
My point is, there is
ALWAYS time to do something to enhance your health.
It may not be the leg
workout you had planned. It may not be
30 minutes of high intensity intervals.
It may not be the 5k you were planning on crushing.
I am obviously an advocate for planned exercise regimens. I think they're great and very effective. I think everyone should have a "plan" of some sort.
But life often has a change in plans. Life doesn't always fully understand I need a hack squat machine to build my derriere.
There are excuses, there are reasons to not go to the gym or accomplish your desired exercise.
There are not, however, reasons to fully and completely abandon your body as a vessel that can move.
Implement something in a day full of life's everythings.
Whether it's a sick kid, a doctor's appointment, a crying friend, or a 15 hour work day, comically acknowledge there's always something you can do.
Even if, there's a puppy on your head.
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