2 out of 3 Exercise Plan

I really like variety for exercise options.  Lately, my favorite things to do are yoga, walking my dog, and working my way through my Pilates video.  During the week, I usually only have time for two: one in the morning and one in the evening.  Having more options than time slots allows me to switch up my activity so that I don't feel stuck in a routine.  The options also give me an alternative when it's raining outside during my normal walking time.  On the weekend, I try to do all three each day since I don't have to spend nine hours a day chained to a desk.  I would try to do yoga at work, but my half-hour lunch doesn't give me time to change AND do yoga.  My office attire doesn't afford me the flexibility needed to do the poses, either.  Sometimes I manage to get all three activities done on a weekday, but that's a rarity.

I am an expert slacker.  When my goal was to do one activity every day (usually walking), it was much harder to stay motivated over a long span of time.  If I skipped the walk one day, I could wind up not going for a walk for the rest of the week.  I also felt glued to one time of day to go for a walk.  It takes about 45 minutes for me to walk around my neighborhood, so if I had less time than that (or perceived that I had less time), I wouldn't bother.

Now I have more flexibility in my workout schedule since I added activities that don't require a set amount of time.  My Pilates video is about 45 minutes long, but I only go through 5 to 10 minutes of it at a time.  Yoga takes only about 20 to 30 minutes for all 12 core asanas.  I can shorten that time by focusing on areas where I need more flexibility.  I can also draw out the time and do extra poses in between asanas.  With these other activities available to me, I don't feel I have to push myself to do a full length walk around the whole neighborhood.  I sometimes take shortcuts which offer steep climbs that are just as challenging as the full length endurance walks.

One thing that helps about the variety of the 2 out of 3 plan is I don't focus as much on the physical change progress.  I don't watch the scale and fret when it shows a number I don't like.  Time seems to pass by much more quickly, so progress just falls into place with or without my attention.  Clearly this method is more fun than obsessing over one activity!

Yoga

Yoga is something I've enjoyed doing ever since I learned I was doing it already.  My favorite yoga poses are from the book Yoga Mind and Body from the Sivinanda Yoga Vedanta Center.  The shoulder stand is a pose I have been practicing since childhood.  I would do mock headstands by leaning back, kicking my feet in the air, propping up my back, and trying to get my feet as far up as possible.  This book fascinated me by its simple yet challenging poses.  Also, there are lots of vegetarian recipes that are very delicious.  After a few weeks of practice, I had gained tremendous flexibility and mastered the true headstand pose along with the other 11 asanas.

I don't practice yoga often.  My number one excuse for not practicing was lack of space.  The second reason was lack of time.  One reason I find it hard to start doing yoga after taking a long break is that the headstand (the first of the 12 asanas) is so challenging.  The headstand is not for the faint of heart.  It is hard to get into the position and even harder to stay there for long.  For the past few years, when I try to complete a headstand, the furthest I can get is halfway.  This is discouraging since I used to be able to do it consistently.  The problem is I don't do yoga consistently enough when I start it up again.

I went through the 12 asanas last night and did not feel bad about the balance failures.  When  I finally figured out how to do the headstand years ago, I did not succeed the first time I tried.  Nor the second, nor the third.  In fact I had to pace myself and work up to a full headstand in stages.  Remembering that helps me get through the yoga workout by focusing on getting a workout habit going.  I can't get better if I never start.

Cold Weather Workouts

I tried jogging in the morning for a while, but the morning is not a good time to test my endurance.  In the morning I fly on autopilot through my routine, but cold and wet weather cut through my subconscious resolve.  If I don't have something to do indoors at those times, I often get bored and go back to bed.  Then even on the days that the weather is perfect, I feel no urge to get up early.

One way to take advantage of the cold weather indoor time is to do workout videos.  The main goal of working out is not to sculpt my body, although I'm sure that will be a result eventually, but instead I am exercising my stamina.  The video I'm currently working through is Gaiam's Cardio Pilates.  The real trick to exercise videos is to start out by doing small segments at a time.  There is no way I could do this entire video all at once in the current state of flab I live in.  I'm not that out of shape; I just don't exercise my core enough.  Pilates is an excellent way to work your core muscles.  Last year I worked out on the Total Gym for a few months and only went jogging sporadically.  When I did jog, it felt far easier to endure longer distances than when I just tried to jog without regular exercise.

Primal Blueprint law #4 is to lift heavy things.  I consider myself heavy enough (at 140 pounds), at least when I lift and hold as Pilates tends to encourage.  I don't need to add external weights to my workout because all I have to do is extend the time I balance myself to increase the difficulty.  Chronic cardio is a big no-no in the Primal Blueprint, but I do around 5 to 10 minutes of the Pilates video at a time.  Even though the video is Cardio Pilates, it's still just strength training for me.

One of my goals for 2012 is to run a 10k.  Fortunately, the Little Rock Marathon has replaced their relay race with a 10k.  There are lots of 5ks and half-marathons in Arkansas, but not many races are 10k.  I like the idea of stepping up in my endurance challenges.  I have run a few 5k races, and it is challenging.  But without the idea of a reachable next step, it's difficult for my mind to find the motivation to either continue 5k running or train up for the half-marathon.  I realize this is a mental crutch, but I'm trying to grow at a sustainable pace.  I could probably make it through a half-marathon at this point, but I would rather go into such a race having the experience of making it to the halfway point alive.  The marathon is in March, so I am making the most of my winter time with core training.