Changing things up
I am guilty of being a creature of habit. I love schedules and routines and consistency. This applies to all areas of my life, not always for the best. Something I fall into a habit with often is my workouts. I find class times, or teachers that I like and it becomes my routine. I have pilates Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 9 am and yoga at 1030am on Tuesday and Thursday. I get comfortable with this routine and switching it up is hard for me. I know that varying your workouts is great for your body and is helpful in achieving fitness goals but it is still hard for me to do.
Times that I have to change my routine are when I am traveling. I recently went home for 2 weeks over the holidays to spend some much-needed time with my amazing family. I of course check all the local yoga and pilates studios to see when classes are, I can’t fall off my fitness regimen completely. Initially I feel off, changing my routine is a hard adjustment for me even though I know I need it.
One of my younger sisters plays rugby at Penn State. Over winter break she was required to follow a workout schedule. She asked if I wanted to do some of the workouts with her and I thought ya why not. The first day I joined her she had to do timed sprints. She had to sprint 109 meters in 20 seconds, 27 times. After each sprint, you had a 40 second break and a 2-minute break between sets of 9. If you have read my previous posts you know I am not the best runner. I run pretty frequently so I figured I would be fine. I was so wrong. The first couple I was fine, although I did realize I was not very good at making my legs move quickly. After the first set of 9 I was struggling hard. My legs felt like cement and it was so hard to get myself moving fast. I pushed myself through all 27 sets, probably not all in the 20 seconds but I was proud of myself.
The next day was a lift day. I was already so sore from the sprints which surprised me. I figured since I already ran a bunch that it would basically be the same muscle groups. My glutes were way more sore than after a typical run. Despite my soreness, I went with Madison to our gym down the street and we went to an area I am not very familiar with, the weights. I was definitely intimidated by all the people lifting around me, I am from Jersey so you can imagine the gym scene there. Mads explained to me the different exercises we had to do and we got to work. Once I got into a groove I blocked out everything else around me and just went for it. It felt really different to not be pounding away on the treadmill or using the machines that guide you through different weight exercises, but I liked it. Also need to give Madison a shoutout because she totally crushed all of it and I can see why she starts in National Championship games.
Again, the next day I was super sore in all new areas. This excited me. I love the feeling of pushing my body and this proved that I had. This experience solidified that I need to get out of my routine more and switch things up. I am adding that to my 2018 intentions. I want to work on being less of a creature of habit and try new things. Not only in fitness but other areas of my life as well! Anyone else want to join?