Am I the only one that listens to piano music on Pandora? My page automatically starts with Lorie Line Radio. Surely this is not normal for a 22 year old. My only comfort is that Brittany Haan's Pandora most likely blasts an organ's rendition of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata when she signs in. One of the 483 reasons why I love her.
It's ridiculously humid on Long Island right now, making my typical afternoon run difficult to get through. Or even convince myself to begin. I have access to my school's gym, but I cannot find my student ID for the life of me, and lets be honest, going to the gym is about as thrilling as a visit to the gynecologist. I'd much rather take my run to the scenic outdoors than stare at the white washed cement walls in front of my treadmill. My dad swears he can run twice as far on the treadmill - I start swearing after .2 miles, am excruciatingly bored by .5, and usually call it quits around .8. It's not that difficult, it's just that boring.
The obvious solution to the heat would be to run early in the morning. And now lets refer back to my previous post and confirm that it's just not going to happen. I'm past my days of obsessively running 10 miles in whatever heat the good lord blessed us with that day, so my advice for a lush, late night working, busy bee college student who appreciates a good workout: do what you can.
There are some days I have the time and energy to put in a solid eight miles, and so I do exactly that. For longer runs, I love to go to a more scenic location - a local park, the beach boardwalk...anywhere where I have a little more to take in, with less risk of getting bored. My long runs are my favorite workout, and it is so frustrating when the reason for stopping is because I'm bored - it can be a difficult hurdle for me to overcome. If this is your problem when working out, do the obvious thing, and give yourself some type of entertainment. Whether it's the view around you, or the TV at the gym, address your entertainment issue head on, and give yourself something to focus on.
I obviously don't have the ambition for a long run every day of the week - there are days when there is absolutely no motivation to workout at all. The first step to no motivation is to simply put on your work out clothes. It's much more difficult to put off a workout when you're walking around in gym shorts and running shoes. (Although I will admit to a time when my motivation was so non-existent, I literally laid down on my bed and took a nap after this attempt for ambition - running shoes and all). Once you're physically ready, it will be a lot easier for you to become mentally prepared to workout.
If you're still not in the mood to break a sweat, give yourself 15 minutes. Knowing I always feel better afterwards, I try to talk myself into some form of exercise. You don't necessarily need to put in a four mile run and three sets of 15 reps on every weight machine in order to get a good workout. Hop on the elliptical, jog around the neighborhood, hell - even a walk around the block. Give yourself 15 minutes to get in the mood to workout, and if you're still not feeling it, to hell with it. Chances are though, at this point, you will have put so much effort into actually motivate a workout, you'll want to continue for lasting results.
Another cure to boredom? Mix up your workout. It was a lot easier when I was home and had access to my outdoor shed stocked full of gear, but there are so many different forms of exercise - don't limit yourself to just one or two. Invest in a pair of roller blades, fill up the air in your bicycle tires, or break out your old jump rope. Finding new ways to work out not only brings a little fun into your routine, but it can make you feel like a kid again - and who doesn't like that?
An issue I often face during my day is time to workout - or lack there of. There are days when I hardly have time to pee, much less squeeze in a workout, and that's OK. Rest days are vital to a healthy, active lifestyle, and you should allow yourself at least one per week. If it's not a rest day, and your time is limited, refer back to my golden workout rule: do what you can. Even if it's 20 minutes of cardio, something is always better than nothing. Consistency and quality are most important when it comes to maintaining an exercise routine, so squeeze in whatever you can find time for.
Today may be one of those days where I need to lace up my running shoes in order to motivate myself to get out the door. Ever since I stopped validating "I'm lazy", "I'm hungover", or "I'm drunk", as justified excuses to miss a work out, it's been much more difficult to feel OK about skipping them. Damn.
It's ridiculously humid on Long Island right now, making my typical afternoon run difficult to get through. Or even convince myself to begin. I have access to my school's gym, but I cannot find my student ID for the life of me, and lets be honest, going to the gym is about as thrilling as a visit to the gynecologist. I'd much rather take my run to the scenic outdoors than stare at the white washed cement walls in front of my treadmill. My dad swears he can run twice as far on the treadmill - I start swearing after .2 miles, am excruciatingly bored by .5, and usually call it quits around .8. It's not that difficult, it's just that boring.
The obvious solution to the heat would be to run early in the morning. And now lets refer back to my previous post and confirm that it's just not going to happen. I'm past my days of obsessively running 10 miles in whatever heat the good lord blessed us with that day, so my advice for a lush, late night working, busy bee college student who appreciates a good workout: do what you can.
There are some days I have the time and energy to put in a solid eight miles, and so I do exactly that. For longer runs, I love to go to a more scenic location - a local park, the beach boardwalk...anywhere where I have a little more to take in, with less risk of getting bored. My long runs are my favorite workout, and it is so frustrating when the reason for stopping is because I'm bored - it can be a difficult hurdle for me to overcome. If this is your problem when working out, do the obvious thing, and give yourself some type of entertainment. Whether it's the view around you, or the TV at the gym, address your entertainment issue head on, and give yourself something to focus on.
I obviously don't have the ambition for a long run every day of the week - there are days when there is absolutely no motivation to workout at all. The first step to no motivation is to simply put on your work out clothes. It's much more difficult to put off a workout when you're walking around in gym shorts and running shoes. (Although I will admit to a time when my motivation was so non-existent, I literally laid down on my bed and took a nap after this attempt for ambition - running shoes and all). Once you're physically ready, it will be a lot easier for you to become mentally prepared to workout.
If you're still not in the mood to break a sweat, give yourself 15 minutes. Knowing I always feel better afterwards, I try to talk myself into some form of exercise. You don't necessarily need to put in a four mile run and three sets of 15 reps on every weight machine in order to get a good workout. Hop on the elliptical, jog around the neighborhood, hell - even a walk around the block. Give yourself 15 minutes to get in the mood to workout, and if you're still not feeling it, to hell with it. Chances are though, at this point, you will have put so much effort into actually motivate a workout, you'll want to continue for lasting results.
Another cure to boredom? Mix up your workout. It was a lot easier when I was home and had access to my outdoor shed stocked full of gear, but there are so many different forms of exercise - don't limit yourself to just one or two. Invest in a pair of roller blades, fill up the air in your bicycle tires, or break out your old jump rope. Finding new ways to work out not only brings a little fun into your routine, but it can make you feel like a kid again - and who doesn't like that?
An issue I often face during my day is time to workout - or lack there of. There are days when I hardly have time to pee, much less squeeze in a workout, and that's OK. Rest days are vital to a healthy, active lifestyle, and you should allow yourself at least one per week. If it's not a rest day, and your time is limited, refer back to my golden workout rule: do what you can. Even if it's 20 minutes of cardio, something is always better than nothing. Consistency and quality are most important when it comes to maintaining an exercise routine, so squeeze in whatever you can find time for.
Today may be one of those days where I need to lace up my running shoes in order to motivate myself to get out the door. Ever since I stopped validating "I'm lazy", "I'm hungover", or "I'm drunk", as justified excuses to miss a work out, it's been much more difficult to feel OK about skipping them. Damn.
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