Working Out (1) hit the gym

Working Out (1) hit the gym

By Judy Koutsky, prevention.com

I tried working out every single morning for a month, and here’s what happened.

Before I had kids, I would use my lunch hour to hit the gym. I had a "passport" membership to a gym chain and could go to any of their locations. Lucky for me, there were several near my office, so I would scan their lunchtime class schedules and take advantage of total-body conditioning and kickboxing. My midday break always got my endorphins going, and I was extremely dedicated to taking it. As a friend said, I had the sculpted arms to show for it.

Then I went freelance and had two kids. Suddenly lunchtime workouts didn't seem doable, and my arms (along with the rest of my body) suffered from their new (lack of) routine. I tried working out in the evenings after the kids were in bed, but I was so tired by then that it was hard to stick with it.

But I finally got to a point where I was more tired of not working out and not feeling fit, and I knew something had to change. So I decided to make a commitment to work out every single morning for a month. No excuses.

Here's the thing about exercise: We are all super busy and there are always other things we could be doing, so unless you make exercise a priority—say, put it on the calendar like a meeting—then it won't happen. I decided to treat my morning workouts like a work assignment. There's something to this. Scheduling everything, even family time.