Fitness ADD

I had a surprising revelation the other day. When it comes to fitness, I have major ADD. Perhaps this stems from the fact that I spent the majority of four years in college being told when to work out, what to do, and what kind of shape I had to be in, but I'm not sure. All I know is that I've dipped my toes in a lot of things over the past few years--and not a one has been very consistent. Maybe it's because I bore easily when I don't have someone telling me what to do? Who knows.

The first "fad" I tried out was a few months before graduation. I'd been out of soccer for a few months and enjoying the lack of required workouts, but I was starting to feel lazy. Because it was winter and cold and I didn't always feel like biking (or driving) to the gym on campus, I bought an DVD of abdominal exercises. And I used it diligently for about a month. I'm totally clueless as to where it is now.

As the boredom started to set in with the ab workouts, word began to spread on campus about a water aerobics class at the fitness center. I was all over that; I love me some water. For about two months I didn't care that the only class I could make was the 5:45 AM class. But then graduation got closer, nights got later, and water aerobics fell off the table.

It was about eighteen months later that I picked up any type of fitness routine again. I was never one of those brides-to-be who went on some crazy diet/exercise regime to get in shape before the wedding, but I realized I should probably do something. Since my two jobs were eating up the majority of my time (and I was still very anti-AM workouts because of my college days), I bought a set of 10-lb weights and set up a schedule of exercises to do in the 30 minute break between jobs. And it worked great!--for two months at the most. I tried to get a few runs in before the wedding as well since I had talked Darrell into running a 5K on our honeymoon, but really didn't work too hard at it (as evidenced by my near 35-minute time. I tried blaming the hilly mountains and thin air, but let's face it--I was massively out of shape).

After the wedding I was super excited to get on Darrell's gym membership because his work gets a discount at this awesome gym. Well, that didn't happen until August (we got married in May). I did nothing over the summer months, but once I got that gym membership I was a serious gym rat. They schedule a few free visits with a trainer to check your fitness levels and set up a workout plan, and I followed that to a tee. For like a month, maybe two. I've used the excuse that I stopped because I got busy at my two jobs, but really--I got bored and lazy.

In December I decided to try the 100 push-up challenge. It was only a six-week program; I figured I could handle that. And I was pretty good about it--but only got to 33 pushups because I wasn't really that good about it (see full recap here).

But I gave up on the push-ups because I was heading full-on into my next fad--5Ks. I talked Darrell into running one on St. Patricks Day, and I vowed to improve my failed honeymoon attempt. So I made up a training schedule, incorporating lifting and core and speed work and long runs. And things went so well (minus the awful race-day weather), that I decided I wanted to run more 5Ks! I ran three more over the course of the summer (one in downtown Sioux Falls, one for Jazz Fest, and one with my Asian friend). The only one of those that was even acceptable was the first, because I actually trained for it. The other two were pretty terrible because my training was inconsistent at best (I was getting bored with running), but I still ran them because I'd committed to them.

Since that last 5K in July, though, I think I've maybe gone running twice. Maybe. Apparently, that ship has sailed (although I'd better get back on it next spring if I've ever going to cross that 10K off my 101 in 1001 list!). However, because I knew that I'd have a hard time continuing my running once my two jobs started up again at the end of August I decided to get a Pilates DVD. And I loved it. It had short little 10-minute segments that I could get up in the morning and do, and after about a month the exercises became pretty automatic.

About the time they became automatic, though, they also became boring. And my jobs got busy. And the snooze button started to look more and more enticing. So working out stopped happening. Until now. I'm back at it--and this time with strength training. But nothing that requires me to go to the gym (sometimes I wonder why we bother keeping our membership...); nope, I'm focusing primarily on body-weight exercises like squats and push-ups (supplemented occasionally with the 10-lb weights that really haven't been used since before the wedding). I'm spacing out days of my leg, ab, and arm exercises, and so far (I started this week), it's been going great. I'm actually feeling muscle soreness that I haven't felt in a good long while and I love being able to adjust the workout to the amount of time I have.

However, I'm realistic. I don't really expect this to last. I told Darrell last night that I'd be happy if I keep this up until Christmas, although I'm sure I'll get bored of it before then. I've heard great things about P90X and Insanity and some of those other exercises programs because they constantly mix things up and keep things interesting--but I just don't have the time to commit to those kind of things. As long as I can still fit into my pants, though, I guess I won't worry too much about changing the status quo!