Workouts without a gym membership
I find myself in the awkward position of having bitten off more than I can chew rent-wise in my new place in Manhattan, and thusly, holding off on gym membership until things are a big more stable. The other reason I don't have the gym membership yet is that it is really hard to get to the gym when you are working 90 hours/week. During those crazy weeks, I try to focus on making sure I have good (cheap) home made food to eat at all times, and that I get out to the park on my day off. Healthy eating these days involves cauliflower... lots and lots of it, for it is the cheapest veggie I can find at the veggie stands, and it has a long shelflife in the fridge. I've treated myself to greens from Fairway or Whole Foods a few times too. I miss my farmshare tremendously!!! I visited farmers markets, but I was not impressed with the goods and the prices. Maybe I need to go to a bigger one?
Right now, I have a few weeks where I actually do have time to be active, and here's what I'm doing.
I find that I need activity to be happier, but it's not easy to have a less than ideal situation for exercising. It was great in Boston when there were a million exercise options within steps of my door... now I have to work at it a bit.
1. I bike commute. Every day. I go for rides to get groceries and when I go out on my rare days off I save money by biking it. Since NYC is pretty big, and all the going out happens downtown, I think I'm getting some mileage just going around. Unfortunately, my work commute is about a mile each way, which is nothing.
2. I bike recreationally. I've discovered the big loop around the park, which has some great hills. So far I've been doing two loops around it, which including the trip to the park is exactly 14 miles. I suspect that if I continue to do this, I will give in to bike envy and buy a road bike and be one of those zippy people on the fast bikes zooming around. As it is now, I'm definitely getting stronger at my uphills, and less afraid of speed on the downhills. Also, I'm becoming proficient at shifting! I hope to explore the trails on the West Side by the Hudson River sometime soon... craving some nice views!
3. Starting to run again. I have feet, and running shoes, and a running path on the East River. Today I loaded up some couch to 5K onto my phone, strapped on my water belt (complete with cell phone pouch!) and took a spin. Getting back to running is much easier than doing it the first time (2 weeks ago, I tried to run without couch to 5K and that rather hurt)... but doing week 1 felt like too much walking. I plan to repeat the week 1 workout one or two more times, then move on to week 2.
4. Strength training. I wish I were doing what I had planned on doing... but I have yet to start. I made cards with strength exercises that I can do with just body weight, and I really want to do a high intensity circuit training style workout using them. On a regular basis. But I haven't started yet. I need to suck it up and do it, because, damn, I'm really craving the lifting heavy things part of life.
Things I miss most from the gym: foam rollers, kettlebells.
Right now, I have a few weeks where I actually do have time to be active, and here's what I'm doing.
I find that I need activity to be happier, but it's not easy to have a less than ideal situation for exercising. It was great in Boston when there were a million exercise options within steps of my door... now I have to work at it a bit.
1. I bike commute. Every day. I go for rides to get groceries and when I go out on my rare days off I save money by biking it. Since NYC is pretty big, and all the going out happens downtown, I think I'm getting some mileage just going around. Unfortunately, my work commute is about a mile each way, which is nothing.
2. I bike recreationally. I've discovered the big loop around the park, which has some great hills. So far I've been doing two loops around it, which including the trip to the park is exactly 14 miles. I suspect that if I continue to do this, I will give in to bike envy and buy a road bike and be one of those zippy people on the fast bikes zooming around. As it is now, I'm definitely getting stronger at my uphills, and less afraid of speed on the downhills. Also, I'm becoming proficient at shifting! I hope to explore the trails on the West Side by the Hudson River sometime soon... craving some nice views!
3. Starting to run again. I have feet, and running shoes, and a running path on the East River. Today I loaded up some couch to 5K onto my phone, strapped on my water belt (complete with cell phone pouch!) and took a spin. Getting back to running is much easier than doing it the first time (2 weeks ago, I tried to run without couch to 5K and that rather hurt)... but doing week 1 felt like too much walking. I plan to repeat the week 1 workout one or two more times, then move on to week 2.
4. Strength training. I wish I were doing what I had planned on doing... but I have yet to start. I made cards with strength exercises that I can do with just body weight, and I really want to do a high intensity circuit training style workout using them. On a regular basis. But I haven't started yet. I need to suck it up and do it, because, damn, I'm really craving the lifting heavy things part of life.
Things I miss most from the gym: foam rollers, kettlebells.