One planned activity that eluded me during the first several
months of being retired was to exercise daily. Sure – I walked a lot – but,
according to my Fitbit, not nearly enough. I went to yoga but just once a week.
I bowled with my brother every weekend, but never worked up a sweat or had an
out of breath moment. On occasion I
would dutifully head down to my basement where I had set up a working out space
as soon as I had moved in, complete with an internet connected television, a
Wii sports system, ballet barre, lots of interlocking floor mats, and a separate
tap dance floor.
My goal was to begin a three-week workout DVD that I had
purchased over a year ago. I was intent
on starting at the beginning and conquering the workout. But the problem was I
hated every single second of doing it. I didn’t have the strength or endurance
for most of the moves – even the ones that were considered ‘modified’. I hated
being out of breath. I hated sweating like crazy and still feeling like I
failed. I hated my hair curling up as the perspiration descended from my scalp
and down my nose and cheeks.
Most days I just avoided going downstairs and putting the
DVD in. Then one day early this spring, I realized that there were no rules
written in stone that I had to conquer that particular series. Everything
didn’t have to be a test of endurance nor success determined by doggedly
finishing what I had started. My goals were not to look good in a bathing suit
nor to lose weight or inches. Maybe it was not necessary that I feel tortured
while en route to physical fitness. Novel idea.
So after wasting more time than I like to admit trying to
make it work for me, I allowed myself to move on. I did find that another DVD
series by the same company was more to my liking. Challenging but fun because
it was more like dancing. I didn’t dread doing the 30 minute routines, even if
I did sweat. I opened some ballet DVDs
and reacquainted myself with steps I’d done on and off my whole life. After
some trial and error, I found a tap dance series that actually simulated a real
class. And just like that, I no longer dreaded turning off the morning news and
heading downstairs for an hour to exercise. The best part is that my coordination is
improving. My memory for sequences is improving. I feel like I am getting an
aerobic workout every morning. I don’t mind working up a sweat because I am
having fun.
I still need to find something that I will stick to for
strength training. For now, I settle for a few pushups every morning while I
have the news on. I know it’s not enough but for the moment, it’s something. If anyone out there has something that works
for them, I’d love to hear about it.
