A Real Life Workout
Last week life interrupted my schedule, as it so often does, and I had to cancel a trip to the gym. My husband is an architect/builder who fortunately has been swamped with work, and months ago I had volunteered to help if the need arose. At the time, it felt like an empty gesture; seriously, what could I do? My skill set doesn’t exactly include structural design, mechanical engineering or even running a power saw.
But Friday, when Bill needed an extra body, he cashed in on my standing offer and I become part of the crew. The clean-up crew that is.
My job was to pick up construction debris and load a 20-yard dumpster. For hours I hoisted, hauled and heaved an assortment of rubble. If it wasn’t nailed down — out it went. Unused lumber, wood scraps, hunks of drywall, bricks and broken tile were all fair game.
To save my back, I did more squats in that one day then I’ve done in a month. My arms ached from the weight of my burden and my shoulders from repeatedly tossing the items into the back of the dumpster. If the size and heft of a piece of material warranted such action, I wasn’t too proud to drag it across the yard, incorporating every push/pull movement known to man; even my core got in on the action by balancing out the unwieldy loads.
I’m sure my form looked none to pretty, but in the end I got the job done and was rewarded with a deep sense of accomplishment. Unlike regular exercise, my actions created visible, same day results.
For sure I couldn’t have done all this hard labor without all of those gym workouts, but it just goes to show you don’t need any high-tech gear or fashionable apparel to get a good workout. Just do something.
The next time you get bored with your workout, try a real life workout instead. Volunteer to clean up a blighted part of your city or shovel snow for your elderly neighbor — then bask in the afterglow of your undeniable achievement!
When’s the last time you worked really hard outside of the gym? Oh, and hats off to all those guys and gals who do this kind of manual labor on a daily basis! —Karen