Happy Friday! This week flew by and all of the days seem to have blended together. Mostly because the little boy was home sick for the first part of the week. Having him home sick kept me from my new usual routine of hitting up the fancy schmancy Lifetime Fitness gym that I have grown to love. While nothing beats a good run outside, the frigid weather and winter has allowed me to succumb to the cost and be a permanent fixture at Lifetime. I missed my favorite spin class on Tuesday and I am already looking forward to it for next week.
Is this me really talking? Is it possible that this runner girl misses a spin class which involves sitting on a bicycle? It sure does.
Rumor has had it that crosstraining is super beneficial to increasing your strength, stamina and ability for running. It also allows you to work different muscles and give others a rest and some time to recover. Yes, I knew this. But I still favored running over anything else.
It has become clear to me that crosstraining with a spin class or the wide variety of elliptical type machines I have tried at Lifetime have absolutely had a positive effect on my running speed and stamina. I am running faster and easier than before I joined and I can only attribute my new found speed to crosstraining.
There is nothing like stepping outside your front door for a good run. I have wonderful access to a running path in my community. I also have a lovely little gym tucked inside my neighborhood as well. I often use the elliptical machine there when it is raining and need a quick workout. I stumbled into my community gym this week and hopped on the elliptical machine. I had not been on this machine in a while and I was amazed to see that I was working at a higher level here as well. I attribute this as well to crosstraining.
It is clearly so important to challenge ourselves and shake up our usual routines. Being a creature of habit as well as stubborn, I do realize this is not easy to do. If you love to run like I do, it is very hard to give up the in-your-head scheduled 5 miler for a spin class. Or to plan on working hard on the dreaded elliptical machine instead. But trust me, simply adding these workouts into your weekly regimen will make your next run that much more fabulous and satisfying. Not to mention your speed in your next race.
Lifetime offers a trial pass to experience all of the wonders of their facility. As most other gyms I am sure do. I absolutely recommend that you look into trying a new place out and see how it works for you.
Stepping out of my exercise comfort zone has give me a positive change in my life. I am wondering what other area of my daily life I can attempt a positive change as well by trying something new.
Are you a creature of habit?
