Today is a Great Day to Exercise

For whatever reason, the past couple of weeks have been rough for me.  My body has been achy, sore and painful which resulted in mental and physical fatigue.  Because of this fatigue I slacked a bit on my exercise routine.  I missed a few days here and there and when I did exercise it was only halfhearted.  My excuse was that I didn't want to further aggravate my "condition," so I let myself rest.

You would think that rest from activity would make it all better, but it didn't.  It actually made it worse.  The worse I felt the less motivated I was to workout.  The less I worked out the worse I felt: a vicious cycle headed in the wrong direction.  Obviously, taking it easy wasn't working, so I went back to my usual routine and intensity this week.

As one might expect, I was pretty sore the day after that first workout.  This morning when my alarm went off I did not want to get up.  My muscles were so stiff and tired that just thinking about moving made them hurt, but somehow I made it out of bed  and into my workout gear.  My workout flew by and when I was done I was drenched in sweat (kind of gross, I know), but couldn't have felt better.  I was energized and ready to go.

As today has progressed I have noticed my soreness is all but gone.  I am moving more freely and I barely feel stiff and sore.  This morning's workout was better than an ibuprofen!

So, you may be wondering, "what is the point to this anecdotal rant?"  The take home message is simple: working out makes you feel better.  If you don't feel like working out today because you are sad, tired, achy, grumpy, etc. maybe exercise is exactly what you need!  Get your body moving and you'll be very glad you did! And remember, even if you don't have time for your full routine 3 ten minute bouts are just as good as a 30 minute session.  Keep moving and keep happy!