The effect of taking time out from being a gym bunny...
- Hazel Butterfield
- 21 February 2016
Due to a rather daft incident, one found herself in a position that stopped me from partaking in any 'real' exercise for a few weeks. I've been hitting the gym or getting stuck into a good outdoor workout 4-5 times a week for over 10 years. That includes sticking to it until the day I actually went into hospital to give birth to my 2 children and was back to it within days. It's fair to say, I love it, need it and have found ways of fitting it in to my life that just works.
I could tell you tales of how I saved a wayward puppy from oncoming traffic or (more realistically) was helping a friend move house. But the truth is more cocktails and high heel based, I fear when my friend says I'm like Bambi On Ice on a Friday night - she has good reason to say so. Anyway, the results was a sprained back and right upper arm. This is painful. Also, I'm right handed and quite frankly, you use your back muscles for more than what I ever realised. So anything involving my upper half was out. I could walk, slowly. That's it.
I know that when I'm tired, a good old workout sorts me out. I've spent the last 3 weeks exhausted and reaching for the haribo, crisps and comfort desserts, just to give me a boost. Then there's the guilt from eating crap. Followed by the mood swings, the highs and lows involved in eating such crap. Exercise provides a natural high. Don't get me wrong, there is a place in my life for Wotsits and a Cadburys Crunchie but not everyday as a necessity to peel my increasing ass off the sofa.
I also decide on my exercise based on requirement, means and workload. Running is for when I'm wanting headspace, time to think and plan. When do you ever get time to just focus without the kids, phone beeping away, washing, nagging boyfriend etc..? The exercise bikes in the gym are for when I need to catch up on Twitter and emails, before you know it you've covered 15k and feel productive too. That's when you hit the weights, charged and on it like a car bonnet. Then HIIT in the comfort of my own home for when I'm time poor and so on..
But the more you squeeze in to your life or at least mine, the more proactive and productive I am. Being sluggish is soul destroying. When you're feeling healthy, active and efficient, it just shines through. It's about looking fit and feeling fit.
Sometimes, my brain needs a little 'ctrl alt del' and exercise does the trick. I was feeling deprived of what I needed to get by.
I went for my first run in weeks today on a route that meant I wouldn't be stranded if I found myself in a pickle (failing muscle-wise). I smashed it, it hurt a bit but I didn't care. I even managed to go a bit further than planned. I'm as happy as a puppy in a ball pool. Let's see if I can get back into the swing of things and get my ass in gear again!
Read my blog on running.