Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Workout Improv

Have you ever been in the position where, in order to get your workout in, you have to find a way to squeeze it in? 

I have that issue today. I had a chiropractor appointment this morning and was already getting up earlier than usual (so no morning workout, which I typically hate anyway). This evening I have a wine tasting event planned, so no evening workout. I typically work out on Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday through Thursday. Monday and Friday are my usual "rest" days.

Normally if I can't workout one of my "normal" days, I will switch it to Monday. This week, I also had plans on Monday (wedding stuff).

I was thinking of skipping working out on both days due to a nagging toe issue (another blog, another day), but I tend to feel "off" if I don't get a workout in when I'm supposed to. It nags at me. I can tell myself that it's fine if I skip, but it will still bother me all day.

So to make up (at least a little) for the fact that I can't workout today, I decided to go for a walk on my lunch hour. I work downtown and this is one of the easiest ways to "slip" in a small workout. Even though walking is good for you, it's not as "hard" of a workout as I would have typically done today and was still feeling a little "eh" because of that.  What to do, what to do!

Hello Chicago Riverwalk! (Disclaimer: I am definitely no photographer! Also, if you hate pictures of stairs, stop reading this blog post!)




I decided to take a 25 minute walk on the Chicago Riverwalk and utilize the many staircases along the way for some stair workouts!  So for the first half of my walk, I walked up and down every staircase I passed.  I started taking pictures of them and while doing so, realized how different most of them are! For some reason, this was intriguing to me...but I don't get out much.

I walked up and down 6 sets of stairs during my 25 minute walk. It was better than just walking (as far as workouts go) and I even sweated a little... sorry co-workers.



This was my favorite staircase.
I thought it was cool looking.

 
 


So I walked up and down 6 sets of stairs. Might not be a TON...but considering it was on my lunch break during a short 25 minute walk, I don't think it was too bad.  This is my "improve workout" for today.

There was also an abundance of runners, walkers, speed walkers, puppies, boats, and people eating lunch on the Riverwalk. Lots to see!

What type of workouts do you do when you need to squeeze something in?  Or do you just tend to skip it?