When Do Your Work Out?: Keeping Your Cardio Commitments

**DISCLAIMER**

This post is probably really only relevant to you if you're an after-work exerciser (like I am most days, since exercising before work would mean getting up at 4:00 AM), but you may find it helpful regardless.

After a hard day on the job, finding the motivation to hit the gym or pound the pavement can be challenging, especially for us busy ladies with a million other obligations weighing on our minds. Some days, skipping that afternoon or evening workout in favor of sorting laundry, cleaning the kitchen, clipping the coupons, pulling weeds, or taking a nap might seem like a good--even a productive--idea.

It's not.

I used to subscribe to Poets and Writers magazine (lovely publication, if you're interested). In an issue a few years ago, I was reading the profile of a featured writer. I don't recall his name, but he was an avid walker. His profile included a quote that was, as best as I remember, the following:

"When I set out to take my walk, my mind is full of problems and worry. When I finish my walk, the problems are still there, but the worry is gone."

The same principle applies to all of us who find solace in walking, running, hiking, biking, weight-lifting, or even spinning away on the elliptical machine. Something about that physical exertion just helps us realize the best ways to cope with our busy schedules, and all our concerns (or maybe it's just that at the end of a run or a workout session, we don't have any energy left for worrying).

Below are a few tips to help you keep your fitness commitments and save a little time.

If you're an after-work exerciser:

1. Incorporate as many of your gym clothes into your workday wear as possible. For example, on a workout day, wear the sports bra you plan to work out in instead of your regular bra.

2. If you plan to run or walk outside on a cold day, wear your running leggings under your work pants.

3. Don't go home first. It's a trap. Change at work if you must (I do it), or in the locker room at your gym, but don't go home. Going home means putting off and possibly never getting to your workout. It means getting distracted by bills to be paid, dishes to be washed, and laundry to be folded. I personally change at work, drive home, and then get out of my car and immediately  begin my run. I don't go inside my house at all until my run is complete. In that way, I am not tempted to start on other tasks. They will still be there when I get home from my run. (Though I sometimes wish a magic fairy would have it all taken care of by the time I return.)

Fast Fitness Tip:
Whenever you walk up stairs, skip a step. Doing so helps strengthen and tone your gluteal muscles.