Usually when I hear about some alternative form of anything I get skeptical. Alternative medicine, alternative energy, alternative music. They're all like the real thing, just less effective. Like the other day when I tried to get rid of my headache by listening to Interpol on my wind-up radio, and it totally wasn't working. The radio that is. I finally plugged it in and got an aspirin.
But I'm trying to convince myself that there are alternative forms of work out that are just as effective as actually running, swimming, and biking. Activities like mowing my yard. My lawn tractor broke the other day, so I have to push mow until I fix/buy another. Keep in mind, my house is planted firmly in the side of a hill, so my yard is an inclined plane, and a steep one at that. The only thing that makes mowing it bearable is that somehow I imagine I'm engaged in training.
The last time I mowed I carried my Garmin eTrex with me. (I'm mad at eTrex, so don't interpret this as some sort of recommendation.) I wanted to see how far I actually walked when I mowed, but the stupid thing shut off without warning at some point. It's been doing this to me for awhile, and it's not because the batteries are low, because they're not. So I caught it and turned it back on. I was surprised to see I'd only walked 0.62 miles when I was done. Total distance would be a little more to account for the shut off.
But I'm trying to convince myself that there are alternative forms of work out that are just as effective as actually running, swimming, and biking. Activities like mowing my yard. My lawn tractor broke the other day, so I have to push mow until I fix/buy another. Keep in mind, my house is planted firmly in the side of a hill, so my yard is an inclined plane, and a steep one at that. The only thing that makes mowing it bearable is that somehow I imagine I'm engaged in training.
The last time I mowed I carried my Garmin eTrex with me. (I'm mad at eTrex, so don't interpret this as some sort of recommendation.) I wanted to see how far I actually walked when I mowed, but the stupid thing shut off without warning at some point. It's been doing this to me for awhile, and it's not because the batteries are low, because they're not. So I caught it and turned it back on. I was surprised to see I'd only walked 0.62 miles when I was done. Total distance would be a little more to account for the shut off.
So, should that count as my training for that day? What if I threw in some yoga or tai chi? What if I visualized myself working out? Would that work? What if I visualized myself mowing the yard? Would that actually cut the grass? I'm just asking, people.
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| My new cross-trainers |
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