Readers’ Workouts — October 1
Welcome to Readers’ Workouts, the weekly event where we share workout stories, goals, successes, and challenges.
I met my goal of 1400 minutes in September — in fact, I surpassed it by all of 10 minutes! I have a busy October planned, so I’m going to stick with 1400 minutes as my goal for this month.
I also want to continue my streak of daily exercise (it’s been going for 72 days). That will be a challenge this week, though, with a conference (Missouri Library Association Conference Schedule). How do you sneak in exercise during busy events like conferences?
How was your exercise in September? What plans do you have for October? Answer on your blog (feel free to grab the logo) and link to your post below or join us in the comments! Be sure to visit the other participants to see how we all did.
Planning out my challenge for October was easy. I knew what I would do this month back in August!
Sneaking in exercise is not impossible. You just can’t be shy or easily embarrassed. Whenever you are standing in a line or something, go up and down on your toes. This works balance and calves. Commit to doing some crunches in the morning and some more before going to bed. Not so many you start sweating profusely but enough to feel like you did something. (Remember, something is better than nothing.)
When sitting, extend your legs one at a time or together. Extend them together and flex and point your toes. This works quads, calves, and the muscles that run along the top of your lower leg. (Forgive me. I haven’t had my second cup or my morning walk so I’m still a little blurry.)
Sitting down you can also do some spinal stretches by twisting to the left and right. Cross your ankle over your thigh and lean forward for a lovely stretch to the lower back and abductor muscles along the thighs.
When walking from one event to another at the conference, take the long way. Even if one event is side-by-side with another, make a circuit anyway. Take stairs instead of elevators. If at all possible, leave the facility building for lunch, etc. If there are places within walking distance, walk to where the food is and walk back.
Push-ups against a bathroom sink. Tricep dips too. Sure, others will look at you a bit sideways but most people will be inspired by your commitment and those who are inclined to be negatively judgmental about your exercising between sessions are the type inclined to negativity anyway. They’ll now know to avoid you because you’re that weird woman who cares about her health!
In your room you can do some simple bed yoga at the end of the day. Don’t forget wall sitting. That’s always a challenge and you can do that silently in your room without disturbing anyone else. If you did that, crunches, push-ups (even modified ones), and plank you’d pretty much cover most of the major muscle groups from head-to-toe.
Can you tell I just came home from my honeymoon and had the “challenge” of working exercise into my day? It wasn’t that hard, truth be told. Rob and I were walking over 10 miles every day.
Thanks, Satia! Those are some great exercises!
Congrats on your honeymoon!
I do yoga in my hotel room at conferences. It helps to stretch after travel and lots of sitting.
Yoga would be a great way to counteract the damaging things that happen in conferences like sitting way too much.
Great job Joy! That is dedication! I always have a hard time making it more than 3 days in a row. just getting 5 out of 7 days in is a challenge.