Keeping It Simple

 

     I missed my workout yesterday. Yes I know, shame on me. Unfortunately other things just got in the way. It happens to all of us. We don't have to settle though. Hacking fitness is all about building habits. So instead of lamenting the fact that I missed my workout and feeling sorry for myself, I decided to work on some habits. I am working night shift this week. So before work I brought out the kettle bell and did some swings. I performed a set of 10 reps, a set of 15 reps, another set of 15 reps and a final set of 10 reps. A total of 50 reps of kettle bell swings. In between sets I performed a few yoga poses to stretch it out. (And for those of you that are making fun of me for doing yoga all I have to say is don't knock it until you try it. But more on that later.) In total this small workout took a total of about 7 minutes to complete. Not what I had planned for the day but the benefits were just as good. The rest of the night I felt loose, refreshed and fit. All it took was 7 minutes. I decided that this was going to be my back up workout from now on. Having a back up workout is a great idea when things go awry and you miss your workout that was planned for the day. Most people shrug off a missed workout and figure they will do it tomorrow. But you are better than that. You are interested in building fitness habits to be successful. Having a default workout planned should your day go to hell and you can't get in the regularly scheduled workout is a great way to keep your momentum going and achieve your goals. Something is better than nothing and progress no matter how small is still progress.

     So my recommendation is to have a backup plan for your workouts. It doesn't need to be time consuming or elaborate. In fact I suggest just the opposite. Keep it simple and short. Get as much work in as you can. If you miss your workout because of more pressing matters during the day, just revert to your back up workout and enjoy the satisfaction of knowing you accomplished something even when it looked as though you were destined to accomplish nothing. Quite frankly, this is the lesson of today's post. Do not let outside events dictate what you will or will not accomplish. Your life is your own and the day is yours. Accomplish what you want to accomplish regardless of the external forces acting on your life. Only you hold the key to your fitness success. Use the back up workout to get you there.