Exercise Bike Alternative
I admit it; I'm a gym rat. I love going to the gym and I do my best to get there at least 4 times per week, and sometimes I realize that I've been there everyday, including weekends, for several weeks in a row. While I usually do my best to really get a good, hard workout by busting my butt in the weight room some days and the exercise bike or stair master in the cardio room on others, I do have to admit that i occasionally kind of just go through the motions, waiting for my 45 minutes (or whatever) to be over so I can go and enjoy a beer or two. After all, what's the point of working out all the time if you're not going to enjoy life, right? And speaking of enjoying life, I had one of those "Aha!/Duh!" moments recently that has really opened up my exercise and fitness world considerably. What was it? An alternative to the 'exercise bike' called... are you ready for this? My bicycle! Yeah, the REAL one!
It's amazing. I have bought myself a pretty decent bike a few years ago, but for the most part it's simply been hanging on one of my garage bicycle racks collecting dust. The other day, for some reason that I still can't quite explain but am thankful for nonetheless, I decided to take it down off the wall and take it for a little spin around the neighborhood. It was great! Seriously, I felt like a little kid. I was shocked that I was having so much fun with... a bicycle?!?!
The thing is, I think I fell into a trap; a routine. I went to the gym and that's where I got my exercise. As I mentioned, I really like the gym, but when you think about it, as a kid we didn't go to the gym, we went outside and PLAYED. Or we rode our bikes! It was natural and fun and healthy. And guess what? It still is! We just need to re-discover it now as adults. And the best part? Now that we are adults, we don't have to be limited to just riding in our own neighborhoods.
We have our own cars and we can, for not very much money at all, buy a bike rack for our car and go where ever we want to go for a ride. It can be cross-town to discover a part of your city ('extended' neighborhood) that you don't know very well. Or maybe you think you know it, but only by driving through it in your car. Trust me, once you get on your bike you'll discover all kinds of new angles to areas you thought you already knew. Maybe you can go down town. You won't have to stress about parking so you can easily stop to check out any cool looking little shops or cafes or city parks.
On the other hand, you could load up your bike rack and head to an entirely different part of the state. The options are limitless! And if you're anything like me, even if you truly love the gym, you will find it a breath of fresh air (both literally and figuratively) to get outside and actually go for a bike ride rather than simply sitting there spinning your wheels (again, both literally and figuratively) on the old exercise bike. Enjoy!
Yes
No
Flag
Comments
Add a new comment - No HTMLYou must be logged in and verified to post a comment. Please log in or sign up to comment.