Great Workout on the Road
I spent the weekend at my parents house to attend the wedding of a good friend. It’s great to get back home be back on the farm (even though it’s just an acreage now, no animals besides cats and a dog).
They also happen to live over 25 miles from the nearest commercial gym or “fitness center”.
So what do you do when you want to get a good workout in? Not just going for a run, but something that will elevate your metabolism, get you stronger and get that fat burning!
I was not going to make the 40 minute drive. There was just too much stuff going on to justify the time commitment. My wife was in the wedding and doing “wedding stuff” all day. I have to help watch our two kids and help my parents with anything they want help with around the place.
Have you been in a similar situation? Do you give up and plan to “make it up” next week?
I decided nothing will stop me and if this happens to you; you have lots of choices.
1. Do a bodyweight only workout. Pick out a number, say 100, and perform that many reps of pushups, squats, lunges, and jumping jacks. Break them up any way you like them and don’t stop until you are all done. Simple and effective.
2. If you are planning ahead you can bring some bands along to incorporate into your bodyweight workout. This allows you to incorporate some pulling exercises to get a balanced workout for your whole body. Check out the best bands you can possibly get from the Band Man Dave Schmitz.
3. Odd object lifting. Find something reasonably heavy (large stones, logs, small children, tires, etc) and lift it any way you can imagine. You can even pick it up and carry it for distance. This will get you a great workout and hit all those “inbetween” muscles you forgot you had!
Lucky for me my dad unknowingly came to the rescue. The barn roof in the process of being reshingled to fix some holes. There were 25 bundles of shingles (70lbs each) that needed to be carried up the ladder to the top of the roof.
So I threw the bags on my shoulder (1 at a time) and carried them up the ladder and dropped them on the roof. I did this as quickly as possible to really push myself and also to avoid the angry wasps that had a few nest under the hole in the roof and didn’t like me slamming the shingles onto the roof their home was attached to. My dad found some wasps spray and stood on the roof “riding shotgun.”
So 15 minutes, 2 stings and 50+ dead wasps later I was done. I felt great to get in such a demanding workout in the fresh air.
For completeness sake I went into the garage and did a few sets pullups on the steel beam in the roof. I also climbed from one end of the beam to the other with my knees tucked to my chest to avoid the cars. After that I did some pushups.
That was it. I got a great workout incorprating total body moves, some upper body pulling, core and grip all while helping my dad out.
So there are no barriers to good workouts, just excuses. Get creative and get fit!
