Do you ever feel like this has happened to your day?
Yesterday’s workout did not turn out the way I had originally planned. I thought I was going to get up in the morning and do a slightly tweaked version of my Monday workout from the WOWs for weeks 37 and 38. I had it all planned out and ready to go, then . . . KABAM! CHANGE OF PLANS.
It happens to all of us at some time or another. You find out that you have a meeting, an appointment or some errand run, a family member or friend that needs your time during your regular workout time. For me, it was a trip to LA that had to start by 7 a.m. The question is: what do we do about it?
Option A: “Oh well, guess I won’t be working out today.”
Option B: “I’ll just do it later on.”
Option C: “I’m a failure, I’ll never reach my goals!”
Option D: “Nothing is going to stop me. I’ll come up with a definite Plan B right now.”
I knew I was going to have to think fast and come up with a good alternate before slipping off to dreamland. Without a good plan in my head, I was sure my day would just slip away from me and somehow my workout just wouldn’t happen. Why leave such an important thing to chance? Make a plan then make it work.
I mulled it over before I conked out for the night. By the time I fell asleep, I knew exactly what I was going to do the next morning.
Usually on Tuesdays I do lots of strength training during my morning workout and then some light cardio (no running) in the evenings. Lately that’s been climbing aboard the stationary bike. Because I had to be on the road so early, I flipped my workout schedule.
At 5:55 a.m. I was on the stationary bike pedaling away. 30 minutes later, I took my sweaty body to the shower and got ready to hit the road.
We got back home about mid-afternoon and, after so much time on the road, part of me didn’t much feel like going through the hassle of changing into my workout clothes and getting down to some sweaty business. You know the feeling, don’t you? But this was totally expected. I knew part of me would be all whiny and want to just skip it. I had my response prepared.
“You did well this morning, big girl, but, come on, you know that wasn’t enough for an athlete like you. You deserve better. You are worth a really great workout. And you are going to feel so good when you are done and have such a sense of accomplishment. Don’t be a wuss, Rachel!”
That’s all it took.
I don’t know if it was the beautiful sun-shiny day we had, the warmer temps, or the 5 plus hours I had in the car to really think about it , but I came up with one hell of a workout for myself.
I picked out 4 sets of exercises from this week’s WOWs (Weekly Online Workouts) that I really wanted to do.
Set 1: Hindu Pushups (20x) and Squats to Bent Arm Hangs (3 sets) from Monday.
Set 2: T Pushups (20x) and Standing Leg Lifts (20 of each) from Monday
Set 3: Forward and Back Plank Walks, Side to Side Plank Walks, and In and Out Plank Walks (5 sets of each) from Monday.
Set 4: Climber Combos (10x), Majesty Squats (10x), and Spiderman Pushups (10x) from Wednesday
Before each of these 4 sets of exercises, I did 5 minutes of sword-fighting.
I only looked and moved this well in my imagination.
No partner or opponent except the one in my head. It was just me and my bokken in the backyard slicing and dicing my way in true Uma Thurman, Kill Bill style. Yeah, I wish that were the case.
Five minutes of blocking, making full cuts, diagonal cuts, and horizontal cuts while scooting, stepping, shuffling, lunging and dancing my way around my yard, not only thoroughly entertained my dog, but also really got my heart pumping and my whole body working.
In the end I did 4 sword-fighting sessions and 4 bodyweight sessions. Forty-five minutes later I was bent over, huffing and puffing, watching puddles of my own sweat form on the patio and feeling damn good about getting in both my workouts despite the unexpected change of plans and adjustments.
Take what's thrown at you and make the best of it.
Life throws stuff at us – curve balls, sliders, change-ups. Don’t give up when this happens. Don’t bail on your daily exercise. Get even more determined, use your head and come up with a Plan B Workout of your own. Feel free to use some of my exercise ideas from my Weekly Online Workouts, if you need to. Each week is stuffed full of activities you can use any way you want. Trust me, you can smack whatever is thrown at you right out of the park!
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