Mother Nature’s Workout!
Friday night is sacred to me. It’s the one night of the week that is set aside for me to do whatever I want. The rest of the week I fit my workouts around my work and home life, but on Friday night my workout is the priority. It’s great to know that whatever happens during the week, I can count on Friday night for an intense, stress relieving workout. The gym is usually pretty empty, so I don’t have to worry about my routine being interrupted and I can totally focus on what I’m doing. This is Friday. I planned to go to the gym at about 4 since I’m not working this week. I was going to have an intense abs, biceps, and forarms workout. I didn’t get there. Mother Nature had other plans. As it turns out, I had a different kind of workout!
When we woke up this morning, it was snowing. A winter storm was forecasted, and it turned out to be more severe than expected. It snowed and the wind howled until about 8 pm. The gym is too far to walk in the snow, and the vehicles are parked in the driveway, not able to go anywhere until our snow-plow guy comes to clear our driveway, which won’t be until Saturday morning. I got on my coat and high boots and went outdoors to do a little shoveling. There was a big snowdrift blocking our main entrance, which happens often. I retrieved the shovel and started in. After a few scoops, I realized something: what I was doing could be a great workout if I did it right! I planted my feet, reached out and took a big scoop of snow. The snow was heavy, but not so heavy that I couldn’t lift it in a controlled and slow way. Lifting the shovel with both hands, I then rotated my body at the waist and using the resulting momentum and an extra push with my shoulders, I tossed the snow out of the way. I repeated this motion dozens of times, always remembering to let my legs bear the weight, not my back, which is why so many people hurt themselves shoveling snow.
I did this for 45 minutes and felt like I had a good total body workout, especially my abs! It was like doing standing twists, but it was better thanks to the extra weight. I didn’t get out of breath or build up much of a sweat because I took my time and concentrated on my form. I’ve been shovelling snow most of my life and it was always a chore that left me out of breath and exhausted. In the past couple of years I haven’t found it that way, thanks to being fitter, and today I’ve gotten to the point where it was a pleasure!
I still regret having to miss my Friday night gym workout, but even the best laid plans don’t always pan out. The important thing is that I did something positive for my body when I could very easily have just sat on the couch all night. Back to the gym tomorrow night!
