I'm not one for New Year's resolutions. January 1st is just another day to me and I don't see what all the fuss is about. I do, however, have post-Christmas plans to get fitter and healthier. All that chocolate and excess needs to be kept to a short holiday period or it'll just take over.
I want to improve my aerial skills and that means getting stronger and fitter. I only really have time for one weekday session at MAH so I've been looking for a solution for additional training and exercise that fits in with my time constraints. There are lots of possibilities...
Cycling to work - I enjoy it but it takes too long when you factor in changing, showering, locking bike up etc. Also, I don't like cycling in the dark and it's genuinely too cold at the moment. When daylight returns in mid-March, I'll look into this option again.
Lunch-time gym sessions - I can join a gym at work for £19 a month and it has a machine that would let me work on chin-ups etc. I doubt I'd go though. I kinda hate gyms. I usually don't have a lunch break because getting the kids to school and nursery and picking them up eats into my time too much for me to have the luxury of a full one hour lunch break. In an ideal world, the gym would be my easy option but realistically I'd be one of those gym members who pays and never goes. I'd rather save my money.
Gym after work - I looked around for gyms that I could go to once the kids are in bed and was shocked by the lack of reasonable options. The average cost is about £50 a month and they tend to shut by about 10pm. This costed itself out of the running.
Home exercise - I considered this to be a non-starter because I don't enjoy exercise DVDs or exercising while watching TV. Then I bought hubby EA Sports Active 2 for the PS3 for his birthday last week (he *did* really want it!) and we've started doing workouts while the kids are in bed. I'm amazed at how much I enjoy it. There's a heart rate monitor and the exercises in each workout so far have been varied enough to keep me interested. Last night focussed on upper body strength - YAY! I plan to do 4 workouts a week and there's enough trophies and goals and online tracking to maintain my enthusiasm. My 9 week plan ends in March, which seems a long way off, but I'm curious to see what results I can achieve in that time so I hope I stick with it.
My other endeavours in my fitness kick are "leaving the building at lunchtime" and "using the stairs". I've started using Tescos for my lunches so that saves money and varies my diet to be healthier. I've also stopped using the lifts at work. The furthest I've gone so far is to the third floor. Woe betide anyone who books a meeting with me on the top floor this week!
Tonight is my static class night and I'm hoping that there's some vague strength and fitness improvements since last week. I should probably start doing chin up challenges in class to gauge my progress. The day I can do an unassisted chin up from a fully extended hang will be an awesome day in my life. Hmmm, I've ended up with strange goals in life.
