About a month ago, I entered a serious workout funk. I had little-to-no motivation to lift weights, which was totally unlike me. I love lifting weights. I’ve done it on and off since high school (mostly on, and I’ve regretted each of the “off” periods). When I’ve been forced out of the weight room by injury or surgery, I practically climb the walls.
So I didn’t know what the heck was wrong with me. I finished one 6-week program (two lower body days and two upper body days each week) and just could not motivate myself to write a new one. I half-heartedly kept doing the old program for a week, then I found myself making excuses for skipping workouts. After two weeks with two workouts, something had to change, and fast!
Unless under doctor’s orders, I do not not work out. That is just not an option. In an act of sheer desperation early last week, when I could Absolutely Not Bring Myself To Do My Old Workout ONE MORE TIME (!), I threw myself a Hail Mary pass and told myself to do a two-year-old full-body circuit workout that was still thumbtacked to the faux wood paneling of my fancy basement gym. I even gave myself permission to only run through the 12-exercise circuit once.
Imagine my surprise when I got started…and started having fun. I did the circuit twice. Circuits rock!
Funny thing is, I remember I stopped doing full-body circuits because I got to the point where I could Absolutely Not Bring Myself To Do A Full Body Workout ONE MORE TIME!
OK, fine. I’m fickle. There’s nothing wrong with that…as long as I know it and work with it. I live a healthy, active lifestyle and I’m committed to eating right and exercising regularly. Fortunately, there’s a zillion ways to do that, so when one path isn’t working or has become tedious, try something different. This winter, I got so sick of smoothies that I thought I would never want to let one cross my lips again. I took a hiatus from them, and guess what I’ve welcomed back into the dietary fold in the last few weeks? That’s right, smoothies. And they taste darn good, too (once again).
So back to exercise. I’m doing my circuits, with a few modifications that I need to actually print out. I have no idea why I have supermans in both A and B workouts. Why was I so obsessed with working my lower back two years ago? I have no idea what my thought process was at that time. I had a shoulder injury (which is reflected in the relative lack of shoulder exercises), but nothing was wrong with my back. Weird.
Anyway, I also was dangerously bored with yoga, so I shoved myself out of my comfort zone and shuffled my DVD collection. I think its really easy to get stuck on doing certain DVDs over and over, especially with yoga, where you are sometimes in a pose that makes looking at the screen very difficult. I dusted off a Rodney Yee Power Yoga DVD I hadn’t done in years. I remember not liking it much then, but I love it now! I think it’s because my “yoga vocabulary” has improved to the point where I don’t have to look at the screen to know what I’m supposed to do. The verbal cues are enough. It’s quite exciting!