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Running Alternatives

There’s nothing like a great run to make me feel truly delicious. But sometimes, one gets burned out doing the same exercise every other day. So, once in awhile, I trade in my running kicks for bare feet and chlorine. But I am very picky about running alternatives. There are only a select few workouts that have a comparable intensity to me or leave me with that lung-expanded feeling like running does. If I don’t feel like a workout is as much of a challenge as running, I can’t justify substituting it for my passion (and hard-earned endurance level). My alternates to running include:

1. Kickboxing. Not the sissy stuff, the hardcore punching and kicking that leaves me winded.

2. Boot Camp: I found a great video at a rummage sale that kicks my butt every time. Try out The Method: Cardio Bootcamp.

3. Step aerobics: Take a trip back to the 80s. I once had a step instructor at the Y that changed the routines every single class and offered a fully modern workout that didn’t bring back memories of hot pink striped biking shorts. But Kathy Smith will do in times of need.

4. Swimming: something about the water, the buoyancy, the use of every muscle fiber to propel the body forward makes me feel like a million bucks and really does work the lungs to capacity.

5. Jump rope workouts: if you’ve tried one, you know what I mean.

6. Jillian Michael’s 30-Day Shred: even as a hardcore exerciser, this one still brings me to my knees every time.

Skimp Your Way Thin

You hardly need to spend anything to get fit. If this is your excuse, you can’t use it anymore. Motivation is probably the biggest stumbling block of all. But money should not matter.

I am the queen of working out on a budget. I am also the type of person (Gemini?) who gets very bored very easily with workouts. I need something different all the time that doesn’t cost me anything. It sounds impossible to please me, but it is not. For eight solid years, I had and loyally used my gym membership, but due to recent money constraints and logistics, I had to quit. I was really worried I wouldn’t be able to work out at home, but it has actually worked out quite nicely and I have been able to maintain my faithful habit. The only hurdles I have at home are a 1-1/2-year-old who enjoys sitting on me during ALL floor exercises and a pup who sometimes compromises my form by getting underfoot. Oh, and the dishes and other distracting messes, but I’ve learned to hold off until after my workout.

Here is my list of budget-friendly workout helpers:

1. I have rummaged, thrifted and craigslist-ed my way to a stocked workout video collection. I don’t think I’ve paid more than $1.00 for a used workout video. You can never predict what you’re going to find, so you have to practice being open-minded when going the second-hand route.

2. I also got a sweet treadmill for just $100 at a rummage sale. We have gotten WAY more than our money’s worth.

3. A $2 thrift store stair stepper is great for step aerobics and also works as a makeshift weight bench for chest presses, leg lifts and all sorts of other exercises.

4. I have a $1 jump rope that gives one of the best workouts ever. I compiled a list of jumps to try on my sparkpeople blog.

5. I got some inexpensive weights at the store. A 5lb and 8lb set will do for a lot of women. I found my husband found some 15 pounders on craigslist for $15.

6. I have magazine subscriptions to Self and Shape Magazines, which cost something like $12 each for a full year. I have hundreds of workouts pulled from these magazines, and filed away by workout type, that I can always turn to. At best, you can log on to these or other health-related magazines’ websites to learn something or print workouts. Self has some really good workout videos you can follow along with as well. As a side note, Self Magazine was one of the first major health motivators for me way back in 2000. The upbeat, anyone-can-do-it attitude really got me revved to start a fitness program.

7. If you’ve heard it from me before, you’ll hear it from me again. Sparkpeople is one of the best free health sites I have ever come across. Here you can log workouts, log what you eat, and look up health articles on almost any topic. There are health calculators, health calendars, community forums and so many things I can’t even list.

8. Free workout videos in a variety of different practices and time limits are provided by exercise TV. Also Yoga Today provides a free hour-long Yoga workout every day and offers over 200 downloadable videos for cheap.

9. The library is a rich resource for workout videos, health books, healthy cookbooks and more for free. Or check out their CD selection for fresh workout music.

10. Check out your local video store as well. We have a local one where educational videos, which includes workout videos, are free to rent.

11. For parents, playgrounds offer a really nice workout opportunity that allows you to play like a kid again. Do a Google search for playground workouts to find something like this.

12. A good pair of running shoes provides plenty of workout hours, whether you prefer free local trails, the sidewalk, the treadmill, or the track.

13. For around $300 each, my husband and I each bought a kayak. We have definitely gotten our money’s worth out of these too. We barely have to plan when we want to go out for a row and we can drop them in the water almost anywhere that’s open to the public. For the cost and the experience in nature, it sure beats slaving away in the gym!

14. I also recommend a set of stretch tubing and a fitness ball. For around $10-$15 each, you get more workout options than you can imagine for your money. If you’re lucky like me, you might happen upon these at a rummage sale or inside a workout DVD itself for even less!

Home gym Complete!

Open a Can of Whoop-on-my-own-a$$

A big thanks to Yoovie on sparkpeople.com (if you’re a health-nut or want to lose some weight, if you haven’t checked this site out, you are definitely missing something) for this wonderful idea.

Note to Self: Read this every time you feel like skipping the gym

Dear Self,

You already know the benefits of working out and how you feel afterwards and all of that. But I know you will forget about them when you are feeling a strong pull towards the couch instead of the treadmill. You may think you will remember all of these reasons, but they will inevitably not get through to you. Because if you really did remember, nothing–I mean absolutely nothing–could stop you from working out.

So, listen here lady, you are required to read this list whenever that resistant mood strikes.

1. Think of that instructor that called you a beginner and handed you 3-lb weights. Think of how much you want to show people like that that you are sooooo not a beginner.

2. Remember those pipes you can feel on your arms. You can feel them, but you can’t quite see them in all their glory. Don’t you actually want to see them? Each day is progression towards that beautiful sculpted look that no one can help but be envious of.

3. What would you rather your son see you doing: jumping around the living room or sitting on the couch, eyes glued to something mindless flashing across the TV or computer screen?

4. Think about how you feel after not working out. You feel like a sloth, withering away into a blob. Now, think about that refreshed feeling after working out. Like your lungs are brand new and your heart has received a tune-up. Your blood seems to pump with renewed energy and your muscles feel victorious.

5. Remember how your ankles used to hurt when you were less-than-healthy? Remember how you haven’t felt that since you’ve started working out? You don’t want crappy ankles again, do you?

6. Exercise brings about a better mood for the rest of the day and into the following day. It’s a free way to feel good without help from prescribed chemicals. It’s the best way you know how to make an average day feel fabulous.

7. Exercise allows you to sleep better at night. And when you don’t work out, it’s just the opposite. It’s so much more worth it to work out than to wake up feeling exhausted the next day.

8. Since working out, you have significantly lowered your cholesterol, have rarely been sick, lowered your blood pressure, decreased body pain, and done so much more good for your body than you’ll probably ever know. This feels amazing.

9. There is nothing more sublime than working out–or moving about in any manner–outdoors. The clean air, the vastness of space, the bird noises, the wind whispers, the cloud movements, the changing scenery, and the towering trees all seem to cleanse in a way that can never be replicated elsewhere.

10. It’s so refreshing to be able to run up the stairs at work and not get winded at the top.

11. This is one of the few habits that have become solidly implanted in your repertoire. It’s an established habit and a record you’ve made for yourself that you do not want to break. Your fitness habits are one of the things you’re most proud of yourself for achieving. Don’t give it up just because you feel a little blah.

12. Take that little girl that used to be chubby and misfitting by the hand and tell her that everything is going to be OK for her later in life. She will go on to do things she never thought possible. Even though the 1-mile testing in gym used to be the worst day of the year for her, she will later hold ribbons for running a Half Marathon and several 5Ks.

13. Look to that woman in her 50s, 60s, 70s and tell her you’re paving the way for health and blissful contentment in the future. She will thank you for all the efforts you are making now.

14. Remember people who have asked you for advice about fitness-related issues. It’s a strength of yours. Never succumb to a sedentary lifestyle. Never make fitness a weakness. Do you want to be the role model or the bad example?

15. Remember you sit in a chair in front of a computer all day at work. You require a workout session to combat that motionlessness!

16. Running takes stress and squeezes the life out of it until all that’s left is angels singing.

17. It gives you that wonderful glow and feeling of warmth, especially in the winter, that keeps you going in the evening. Nothing makes you want to lie still more than a cold body.

18. It’s fun to wear those cute moisture-wicking shirts and performance leggings. Decked out with a cute water bottle, crisp white sneakers, an iPod and a pink headband is almost as fun as playing dress-up.

19. You get to be one of the most productive people you know of. Don’t let anyone pass you up.

20. When you push yourself to achieve things that didn’t seem possible not long ago or that take you to a whole new level, you are proving to yourself that you have the ability to achieve what you set out to achieve. This awareness of your potential leads you to fulfill other dreams as well.

21. You are not content just being mediocre! You are not content being stagnant!

22. Get your money’s worth out of your magazine subscriptions, stock of videos, treadmill and other equipment. Don’t be one of those people that only hop on the treadmill to dust it.

23. How else are you going to keep up with your son when he develops lightning-inspired speeds and is drawn to particularly heavy traffic sites? How else are you going to teach him healthy habits?

24. Name 5 better ways to spend your evening!

25. If you don’t work out, that feeling of guilt will linger for days until you work out again. This often culminates into one giant bad mood-fest that you really don’t want to participate in.

26. At least just change into those workout clothes and go somewhere. Anywhere. Sometimes just getting ready is the biggest part of the battle. Don’t even think about it–do it mindlessly so you just do it.

27. “Self-actualization feels like glowing in the dark” (this is my fave, straight from Yoovie herself).

28. Think about swimsuit season coming up and family vacations. Think about taking your son to the beach. Do you want to hide? Or do you want to wear a wrap off your hips and a tank with just a little skin showing?

29. Working out and catching the latest fitness news gives you something more/something interesting to talk about.

30. Hard work is the only way to guarantee real results. You are soooo worth the best end result.

31. You get to read your favorite magazines while you work out.

32. This is one of the only times you get valuable “me time” that’s worth every drop of sweat.

33. It’s more fun to do crunches with a baby sitting on your stomach than doing them alone or not doing them at all.

34. Since you’ve begun working out, your whole body image and confidence level has been boosted. That measly 1/2 hour-1 hour of working out doesn’t even compare to the worth of the positive boost!