Listening to your body

On my food blog, See Sarah Eat, I posted yesterday about the importance of listening to your body’s hunger cues and not eating based on the clock or your own “time frame.”

This same concept can be applied to exercise. I think it’s interesting how I got to apply this principle in my routine yesterday, both through food and fitness!

Yesterday, my training plan called for a 2 mile run and weight training. However, all morning my legs weren’t feeling too great from the past two days of running on the treadmill (especially that 4-miler). I also started to think about my upcoming workout and honestly the thought of running was not exciting to me.

When that happens, instead of pushing through a run and totally not enjoying it, I’d rather switch it up for a day and re-arrange my schedule to do a run later. It’s frustrating at the time, but I definitely think it pays off!

I ended up doing 25 minutes on the elliptical trainer, followed by some weight training.

• Plank push ups (2 sets of 5 – I struggled!)
• Chest presses (2 sets of 15 – 15 lb dumbbells)
• Shoulder presses (2 sets of 15 – 5 lb dumbbells)
• Shoulder shrugs (2 sets of 15 – 20 lb dumbbells)
• Bicep curls (2 sets of 15 – 10 lb dumbbells)
• Tricep kickbacks (2 sets of 15 – 10 lb dumbbells)
• Leg extension machine (2 sets of 15 – 35 lbs)
• Leg curl machine (2 sets of 25 – 50 lbs)
• Side bends (2 sets of 25 – 12.5 lb dumbbells)
• Reverse crunches (2 sets of 40)
• Side crunches (2 sets of 25, each side)

This routine made me realize that I am neglecting my back! I need to write up a new routine because having a strong upper body with a weak back won’t do me any good 😉

Also regarding time: sometimes we plan for a morning workout but we don’t feel up to it or we oversleep. That’s okay! Just try to fit it in later in your day. There is almost always something that can get moved around in order to accomodate your workout, especially if it is a high priority to you.

You might have to use your lunch hour (and eat at your desk), skip or record a TV show you usually watch, or tell a friend you’ll be late for dinner. Don’t stress about it! The feeling you get from finishing a workout is totally worth it.  You are worth it 🙂

I always put a workout on my calendar like an appointment. It might get moved around a lot but it almost never gets deleted!

Every work out is a learning experience. I am so glad that I did not push myself to run yesterday because today my legs feel strong and I’ve definitely got the energy to run today!