Mixing things up
Part of the reason that I've been going to physical therapy since June last year is that I sit a lot at my job. It took quite a while to figure that out but that's where we are: it's not the running, it's not the walking, it's the sitting. I'm trying hard to take standing breaks at least once an hour - my Apple Watch buzzes in case I forget about it, so that's getting better than it was before I started paying more attention.
The other factor in my continuing hip/glute/lower back pain is a lack of cross training and more specifically not doing any resistance/strength training. I love to walk outside in the morning - it's relaxing, it's a great way to burn calories while getting some fresh air - but combining four mornings of walking with three mornings of wogging (repeated walk/jog intervals) is great for my cardiovascular endurance but not so much for my muscle strength. I keep saying that I'm going to go the gym in the mornings to lift weights but then I get cold feet the night before and decide to just go for a walk instead.
This weekend I decided that if I was going to make a change, I needed to work with my motivational style, which is far more obliger than anything else, so I sent Kay Lynn a text message to ask if she'd meet me at the gym Tuesday and Thursday mornings this week; she said yes. After sending a follow-up text message Monday night to confirm, I knew I couldn't back out.
The other factor in my continuing hip/glute/lower back pain is a lack of cross training and more specifically not doing any resistance/strength training. I love to walk outside in the morning - it's relaxing, it's a great way to burn calories while getting some fresh air - but combining four mornings of walking with three mornings of wogging (repeated walk/jog intervals) is great for my cardiovascular endurance but not so much for my muscle strength. I keep saying that I'm going to go the gym in the mornings to lift weights but then I get cold feet the night before and decide to just go for a walk instead.
This weekend I decided that if I was going to make a change, I needed to work with my motivational style, which is far more obliger than anything else, so I sent Kay Lynn a text message to ask if she'd meet me at the gym Tuesday and Thursday mornings this week; she said yes. After sending a follow-up text message Monday night to confirm, I knew I couldn't back out.
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| Not a picture of me from this morning |
So, up I got with the 4:30 a.m. alarm, dressed, took care of Alouysius the Pug, and off I went to the gym. Kay Lynn was on time, as always, and we got started. Thirty minutes later, I'd finished two full-body circuits and we still had time to hit the treadmill for a 20 minute walk afterwards.
My new workout schedule looks like this:
- Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday will remain my dedicated days for wogging
- weights on Tuesday and Thursday
- walking plus gentle yoga on Saturday and Monday (day before and after my long wog)
How do you fit both cardiovascular and strength training into your exercise routine? Do you have a preference for one over the other?
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