Fitness

I’ve been working out for almost 10 years and have been doing so 5-6 days a week for at least 8 years. Until December 2008, I ran 3-5 miles three times a week and supplemented my runs with cardio workouts at the gym, stretching, and some abdominal work. Although I was careful to cross train, I, like so many other runners, ended up with a knee injury that left me unable to run. My dad, a physiatrist, warned me that if I wanted to remain mobile and pain-free without surgery, I needed to give up running permanently. I was crushed but determined to maintain the high level of fitness that I had achieved through running.

After spending a few months bored stiff at the gym, I discovered fitness DVDs. I very clearly remember my thought process on the day I did my first, which was Tae Bo Get Ripped Advanced I. “Pfff,” I thought. “I’m a runner and I’m in excellent shape, so there is absolutely no way that a workout DVD is going to be remotely challenging or help me maintain my runner’s body.” Well, about halfway through the routine, my skepticism was completely obscured by the sounds of my ragged breathing and racing heart. For five happy days, I was so sore I could barely walk. Score!

From that first foray into workout DVDs, I have diversified my workouts and increased their intensity to such a degree that I’ll bet if I could run, I’d beat all my records. It’s now been almost a year, and I don’t look back on my gym days. I have achieved a much leaner, tighter and stronger body, and as a fantastic motivator, I do it all from home: no more late nights or Sundays trying to get to the gym before it closes, and no more frantic phone calls to hotels when I am traveling to find out what gym equipment is available. At least half of my DVDs use little or no equipment, so my workouts are convenient, portable and efficient.

My current thinking on workouts: I have finally reached the conclusion that incorporating resistance training into my routine does not, in fact, have to consist of endless series of curls, waste my time, or sacrifice cardiovascular fitness. I used to think, why would I bother to stand around boring myself with dumbbells for an hour when I could be leaping and hopping around, sweating and feeling as though I had actually had a good workout? The reason is that weight training has improved my body and cardiovascular performance to an astonishing degree.