Mark vs. The Exercise Routine

As some of my earlier posts have mentioned, Montgomery isn't exactly the healthiest place in America. There's fast/fried food everywhere; oppressive heat means most waking hours are spent avoiding the outdoors; and there aren't a whole lot of outdoorsy areas that don't have a high probability of gator sightings, or are just bad areas to avoid altogether. This, combined with my new 40+ hour work week in which I mostly stare at a computer monitor, has not made for the healthiest of living environments. So when it dawned on me a couple weeks ago that I should probably start working out again, the first thought that popped into my head was "Great! Umm... how am I gonna do that?" The answer is easy enough: use the fitness facility I get for free in my apartment complex. The part that's become really hard to answer, though, is when.

I thought it would be easy enough to hit the gym after I get off work. Convenient gap time between then and dinner, I'll have the urge to blow off some steam and get active, etc. Instead, I find myself wiped at the end of each day, wanting to lay down on my couch play some StarCraft or go on Facebook. It's also really inconvenient if I need to work any overtime, run errands, or catch dinner or drinks with co-workers. While working out is great, it shouldn't dictate the more important things in life. This left me with one option: work out early in the morning before work. Which is great, except for the teensy snafus that keep me up at night and make my quality of sleep piss poor to the point I don't want to think of getting out of bed before noon.

The ideal scenario here would be lap swimming. It's low impact, gives a total body workout, and most places even come with a relaxing sauna. If I could get up, eat breakfast, swing by the pool and swim some laps before heading to work, that would be a great schedule. I could do that. Unfortunately, the only place I've found so far is the YMCA, which costs $40/month plus a $50 sign up fee that I really don't want to pay. Alternatively, I could try and swim around the small Lima bean-shaped pool outside the gym here and risk not cracking my head open, but the chances of that happening are roughly 0%.

So far, I've devised a plan that may or may not work: wake up a half hour early and do some push ups, crunches, and stretches until I get into the morning workout mindset, then hit the weights bright and early. I'm really not a fan of this plan, and don't know how long it will last. Maybe not even through the end of the month (or the week). But I need to get active. Unlike college I don't have a lot of leeway to blow off hitting the gym for a few hours; my days are a lot more structured and (somehow) exhausting. If I don't build good habits now, they aren't going to magically appear later when I really need them and putting in the effort to get fit is even harder. I just really wish I didn't have to wake up so early...

(This is yet another reason why I really want my cyborg body right now dammit!)