No excuses

The toughest thing I’m learning about juggling a baby and the rest of it AND working on getting back in shape is that I have no room for error. When I (gag) put myself on my calendar and dedicate time to working out, that has to be the time. Chances are I won’t be able to make adjustments.

Friday was the third time The Ex-Marine cancelled class. He typically sends a text message, and because I take 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. classes, it’s nice that I haven’t made my way out the door to learn this news. However, I wanted to work out. I was looking forward to it. It wasn’t a treat to not have class that morning – especially since it was a Crossfit-like class.

For as much as I love Chalene Johnson – her Extreme DVDs and Turbo Jam series are near and dear to my heart – what I really don’t want to do in these moments is put in a DVD. All I really want to do is sweat. Not surprisingly, since spending the past almost two months back in boot camp and spinning, running has taken a back seat. I probably run once a week, tops. And at that time of day, I don’t feel like running outside.

So I’ve made a new back-up plan.

This afternoon, I visited one of my favorite stores – Play-It-Again Sports. I dropped $27 on a used aerobic step and a jump rope. We use both in our boot camp class, and now I can at least re-create some of the routines in my basement for those days where class gets canceled or I just don’t feel like leaving the house. Plus…

About a month ago my friend, Mary, showed me this new app from Nike called the Nike Training Club – link to your right in the sidebar. The level of awesome it achieves cannot be overestimated here. This free app has built-in training programs for every level, every fitness goal AND videos that show you how to do the exercises. I was sad that I couldn’t use it, since I didn’t own an iPhone. When my Blackberry bit the dust, and I went the iPhone route, it was one of the first things I got excited to get on my phone.

In addition to the aerobic step and jump rope, I’ll probably bust this out once or twice a week, too. I really can’t recommend this enough, mostly because of the videos. Sometimes I think half the battle with this stuff is just knowing how to do it right. And wish as I might, I just can’t afford a personal trainer.

What at-home workouts do you have in your arsenal?