It was well over a year ago when I wrote a blog post called “Pumping Up with a Purpose.”  I asked the question “Do you workout or do you train with a purpose?”  And followed with:

 Is there a distinction you ask?  Is it just semantics?  I say there is a difference.  Someone taking spinning twice/week is not necessarily a cyclist while a cyclist might take spin twice/week.  Running for cardio does not make you a runner while a runner does run for cardio.  Playing basketball with your buddies does not mean your training is geared for a basketball player trying to get better.  However, a dedicated basketball player might play with his buddies. 

 I then went on about training for a goal and how I trained for a rock climbing trip in Mexico.  Well, a little over a year later and I currently have no tangible training goal.  I am training to stay in excellent shape, keep my physique the way I like it, and for my own mental sanity.  However, that about covers my goals.  Actually, if you cut right down to it, my goal is to get in a great workout.  But I really don’t consider that the type of goal I wrote about last year. 

 There are times when we find ourselves without training goals and I do not necessarily think there is anything wrong with that.  Now, before you come at me with a response like “well, if we don’t need goals, why did Jodi do an entire series on goal setting?” go back and re-read what I wrote – sometimes we find ourselves without TRAINING goals.  That does not mean we do not have goals.  It merely means our goals are not training related. 

 Right now I am barely trudging through tax season.  I know, I’m sure you are tired of hearing me talk about tax season week in and week out, but it really is brutal this year.  I used to LOVE to write crazy workout programs for myself; programs that were designed for a specific goal.  However now, the thought of writing my own program is more than I can bear.  I know that if I was training for something right now, I would be one crazy lady and all of my friends would disown me (if they haven’t already).

 However, that does not mean my life is goalless.  To the contrary, I have plenty of goals.  Two that come to mind are (1) to make it through tax season without losing my mind, and (2) to make it through tax season without losing my fitness level.   But I also have work-related goals and personal-growth specific goals.  So for the time being, I am sticking with those. 

 In that article a year ago, I wrote about my climbing specific training, lifting, cardio and mobility.  Well, except for the climbing specific training, I still incorporate all of those components into my training and add in additional functional training. 

 I do not currently have the luxury of twice-daily training sessions and so I have to incorporate everything I can into a morning workout.  However, this does not mean that I half-arse anything, but it means I train smarter. 

 Mobility and Flexibility

 Every session starts with some form of mobility.  If I am not doing a functional-plyo-agility workout in the aerobics room I start out with shoulder mobility, thoracic spine mobility and hip mobility in the stretching area in my gym.  If I am in the aerobics room, I perform a dynamic warm-up with things like butt kickers, high knees, 180s, lunge and rotate and so on.  Regardless of what I do, I keep in the mobility. 

 Just like mobility always opens up my training, flexibility always closes the session.  I always try to get in between 10-30 minutes of stretching/yoga type work.  Because I am so busy right now, I have not gotten to a yoga class in a few weeks (leaving work before 7pm to 8pm is just not an option).  Instead, on days when I have the time, I head into the yoga studio at my gym and do my own practice.  And in the alternative, I do something for at least 10 minutes. 

 Lifting and Functional Work

 My lifts have been full-body lifts.  This is helpful for the lack of time and also for the type of training and am currently doing.  There are two distinct ways in which I set up these sessions.  The first type is pure lifting.  However, I use the big movers – all complex movements with minimal rest in between and lots of giant sets.  BUT, I am lifting HEAVY.  This is not a circuit you would find at your grandma’s gym.  Additionally, depending on the specific workout, I add in plyometrics/functional moves.  Think of Jodi’s recent post about adding a crank after finishing up on set of exercises, before moving onto the next; or simply changing a pair of lifts into a giant set by adding on a weighted burpee.  When I am doing this type of lift, I’ll lift 3x/week and spend 1-2 days in the aerobics room doing a straight up plyo/functional workout.  Ok, honestly, it is usually 1 day of plyo/functional, which is why I add in the plyos to the lifts.   

 The second type of workout I call a hybrid.  I will head into the aerobics room and do 2-3 plyo/agility combos and then head out onto the weight floor to finish up with a lift.  These lifts will be more combo/complex/giant sets.  With this set up, I will not do a separate functional/plyo workout that week. 

 This training is not for everyone.  But it is PERFECT for my life at this moment and I absolutely love it.  It also helps with the fact that, at the moment, I am unable to get in a large amount of cardio.

 Cardio

 This one is barely happening right now and I openly admit it.  I shoot for 3-4 days/week but realistically am only getting in 2-3.  There are mornings when I plan to get in a lift and cardio, but by the time I am finished with the lift, I’ve got nothing else to give.  Or, there are weeks where my schedule just does not conform to what I had planned and one of my cardio sessions is out the window.  This is the second reason I set my lifting/functional workouts the way I do, I get a full metabolic workout in those sessions.

 A year ago, doing so little cardio would have sent me straight into a panic attack; but not today.  First, I don’t have time to stop and panic, but second, my world has not ended doing so little cardio (what a concept to finally grasp).  I know once the weather is nicer and 4/15 passes, I’ll be ramping up that cardio.  But for now, of all the things to fall by the wayside, cardio takes the hit.

In sum, while I am not training for a goal, I can still discuss my training and the purpose behind it in a similar manner to the way I did when I was training for a goal.  It took me writing this post to see it, but there is a purpose to what I am doing.  I have accepted that right now, I cannot have a training goal and thus set up my program accordingly.  In the past I would have fought this, tried to convince myself that I could train for something despite working crazy hours, put together a program I had no way of ever completing, and the gotten depressed and discourage because I couldn’t get it all done.  Well, not this year.  I am not sure how it happened, but I’ve evolved.  And with that, so has my training.  And when it really boils down to it, I am getting in some awesome, killer, workouts to boot.  So I leave you with the challenge to evolve as well and not be a slave to having a training goal.  There are times when it just won’t happen.  But that does not mean the world will end, nor does it mean you have to lose all that you have achieved.

We had so much fun didn’t we?  We would hang out and be care free.  Ahhh, the days.

We would get up and just go run down the street to our girlfriend’s house for the heck sake of it.  No, not walk—run…like a bat out of hell!…in shoes…from Coquettes…LOL!! 

Life was spontaneous.  We were spontaneous.  We were in constant movement.  Never ever sat down. 

Being young was a gift that was taken so much for granted.  Not thinking too much about the next day because we couldn’t stop laughing that day.  Everything was fun, carefree and active.  Vibrant.

Remember when we just ate?  We didn’t care what we ate every day.  Uncomplicated.  Back then processed food just wasn’t an issue.  We didn’t think twice about it.  Food was on the table every day freshly cooked and healthy.  We had a great childhood like that. 

Unassuming.

The goal of every day was to top the joy of the day before.  Sure we had bad times here and there (Hawaii, July ’81) but they lasted only as long as the event.  Right after that we were back to loving life.

No post workout shakes.  No amazing glute exercises, our butt cheeks already sat on our necks they were so tight!  No worries about mixing foods, eating bad fats, varying cardio, making a PR, scale weight, skinny jeans and the like!  It was just us with our endless love of activity (we didn’t call it exercise because we LOVED to do it incessantly) and our healthy relationship with food—all day long.  

Our youth seemed endless. 

Where did time go?  Not sure how much we can reverse… L

It was amazing to have that time with you.  I am sure we can get it back if we just try. 

I really miss you, Jodi…

With all my love,

Your Alter Ego

P.S.  Can you relate to the message behind this post?  Not all of that pertains to me as I am sure the same for you but the essence is there.  Tell me what you miss about you.  Do you remember when?   And can you bring it back?  I am close to finding that woman again.  She is in there peeking her little head out.  And every so often I find myself skipping for no reason or playing tag with my kids (Who cheat btw, haha!) and think, “this is the life!”  Drop some of what is weighing you down today and find her/him.  And when you find them, hug them tight because they have missed you dearly!