It was absolutely beautiful out this morning and afternoon (now it's raining. blech, typical Netherlands for ya). It was warm enough to wear shorts, a t-shirt and flip flops but not hot enough to make you sweat when you rode your bike or played around a little bit. I walked Scooter through the neighborhood park and it was packed full of families spending some quality time together. It was just a lovely peaceful day to be outside.
It is also Sunday which means it's my day to go to the gym and workout. I almost talked myself out of it though. It was so gorgeous out that it just seemed like such a shame to be inside monotonously treading the mill or cross training my afternoon away.
Like a good girl (actually like a girl who is desperate for a loss on the scale this Tuesday) I packed my bag and biked to the gym. I lifted all my weights and hopped up on the treadmill. While I was walking away I got to thinking about how people (including myself) are always saying what a shame it is to be indoors when it's nice outside. Hmmm... is it really such a shame?
In my case if I would go outside I would probably walk with the dog. I may take along a blanket and book and read under a tree in the park while Scooter chewed on a stick and begged for attention from every person who walked past like he'd never seen another human before. He's good at that. I'd sit at the playground for a while and watch the kids goof around and maybe even pet the baby sheep. Quite possibly I'd go to the forest and let Scooter run wild with the other doggies there for a few hours. I'd like to think I'd take my Dutch homework with me and work on it but let's be honest... that's NEVER gonna happen. I'd have one of the most relaxing days just hanging out people watching. It'd be great.
What would be a true shame would be for me to let the weather be an excuse not to push my body and to miss a much needed workout. Now I've missed a workout at the gym due to rain and not wanting to ride my bike in the freezing cold but I just couldn't find a way to justify missing a workout because it was nice out.
It would be different if I would miss a workout at the gym and actually exercise outside but if you look at my list above you can clearly see that the only thing that was going to get my heart pumping there was rolling around laughing at the thought of doing my Dutch homework.
Maybe I could take a jog and get my heart pumping... it's happened before and I actually do enjoy running outside but I know in my truest heart of hearts that I probably wouldn't have and I wouldn't have even bothered to try to replace the workout that my weight lifting gives me. That's just something that I would never begin to know how to do outside.
So was it a shame for me to be in the gym sweating my arse off on a beautiful day like today? Should I feel badly for spending 2 hours indoors working out? Had I not gone, could I have felt ok with my decision justifying my actions with good weather? I don't think so. It would have been a shame if I would have given myself another "out" from working out and it could have set a precedent for the rest of the beautiful summer.
4 comments:
Why don't you do all your cardio(jogging, walking, etc) outside before the gym and then go to the gym and do weights?
That would seem like the obvious answer! I just know I wouldn't do it. If I would do cardio outside first then I know I would never drag my tired sweaty stinky butt to the gym and vice versa if would lift first. It's all a mental thing.
Now I have no problem just running outside on days where I't not lifting. I'm not anti-outside-exercising. I just know I won't do the combo.
Decisions, decisons! I know I spend way too much time inside in front of the computor. Sometimes I go outside to water my garden or hang out my washing, just to breathe some fresh air and get out. Personally, I think being outside is good for your health (not that I know much about the environmental factors over there such as pollution). I know that they have actually conducted tested proving that people who are 'outdoorsy' seem to be much happier and have a much better quality of life than those who are in airconditioning all day.
Maybe you have to compromise, and do your indoor stuff sometimes, and others spend time in the fresh air!!
I live in Baltimore and this park near my house just installed weight lifting equipment around the lake to get our city motivated to work out more. I think it's awesome that they did that.. I go running around that lake and now I can get some of my training in too... (with the dog !)
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