I've explained my love/hate background with working out. The reality I've decided on is that exercise is necessary for optimal health and my hopes to live a long, healthy life in a clothing size I don't despise. Therefor I've been on a continuous journey to find my kind of fitness.
In college I remember going to the recreation center with my roommate to "work out". It was usually just a combination of me walking around trying to figure out what to do and awkwardly watching people who would just sit on the bikes while talking on their phone. Their definition of working out was the opposite of what Jillian Michaels would ever suggest. I also tried some at-home pilates videos with my roommate and those were surprisingly more challenging than I thought. However, since I was living with roommates I couldn't monopolize the tv to do a workout and I definitely wasn't going to workout when other people were just hanging out in the living room. So the at-home workouts fizzled out for me.
The recreation center did offer group exercise classes and that's where I found my interest. Turns out, I'm not intrinsically motivated, meaning I can easily talk myself into going to starbucks rather than going to the gym. But if I'm around other people, something inside me turns on my competitive side and I push myself to go harder, jump higher, move faster. So I tried a little bit of everything. Zumba classes, hip hop cardio, step aerobics, basically whatever I thought would be something fun that I could consider falling in the exercising category. Unfortunately, college ended and my membership would cost an arm, leg and first born child to continue so I had to explore other options.
About a year after my first child was born I realized I needed to get back to the gym and focus on me again. I gained about sixty pounds with my first child on my petite 5'2" frame and I wanted to feel better about my body. So I started going to my local gym and taking their group exercise classes. I figured it worked once so why not try again?! I jumped in head first. I did two- one hour group exercises classes back to back 4-5 days a week. I got good. Really good. And I felt great! My clothes fit better and I had my pre-baby body back! Unfortunately, the gym stopped offering the group exercises classes and did away with their group exercise room. Wah. Wah. Wah.
So back to square one again. My friend had been going to kickboxing classes and that sounded pretty darn bada** so I decided to do the one free session at 9 rounds. Man, there are very few things that relieve the stress of a long day or the frustration of your children arguing back and forth incessantly like putting on boxing gloves and beating the tar out of punching bags! I was hooked! It was only 30 minutes to complete the 9 rounds so I had no excuses why I couldn't make 30 minutes a day happen. It was also right around the corner from my work at the time so I really had no excuse. So I started going about 5-6 days a week. I did this for over a year and eventually I had to start doing the 9 rounds twice to get a good workout in. It stopped being a challenge for me and kicking my rear like it used to, so I decided I wanted to try something new.
My husband had been doing crossfit for about 5 months at that point and for Father's Day, he asked me to go to the gym and let him put me through a crossfit workout. So he wanted to kill me for Father's Day. Sure dear, whatever makes you happy! So I went, and I didn't die, and it was fun! I eventually became a member and explained I had never done any olympic lifting before and I wasn't all that interested in it. They laughed because they knew I'd become obsessed just like all other crossfitters out there. And I did. It's that darn competitive streak that comes out when I least expect it in group exercise situations. You see, I was getting beat in the workouts almost every day by an 80 year old man in the class known as "Mean Gene", who was actually the nicest guy every but he was 80!!! And he kept beating me! Crossfit isn't just a workout for 20 something super athlete's. It's a workout that can be scaled to meet anyone's needs and performed at all levels. I've been doing crossfit now for about 3 1/2 years. I've never gotten bored because the workouts rarely are the same and it's a continuous process for improvement. I scale back a lot more now after back surgery but if I hadn't been so active in crossfit prior to surgery, I would never have been able to bounce back as well as I did.
My point of this all is to tell you to find your fitness niche. Find something that challenges you, holds you accountable, keeps your interest and is FUN! Fitness isn't supposed to be miserable or something you have to force yourself to do. You should be doing it because you enjoy it and you realize the importance of a healthy, active lifestyle. It's always, always awkward to try new things. I still think every time I walk into the hot yoga studio that everyone is staring at me like I'm in a penguin in duck pond. But hey, I'm there for me, not them right?
Stay focused on your fitness goals. You made them for a reason and you need to hold yourself accountable to them. Do it for YOU! You're worth it!
XOXO
Ashley
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