CRNA Fitness: What goes Up, Must Come Down

What goes up when the rain comes down?  Answer:  Your weight.  If you thought the correct answer was “an umbrella,” then you probably heard it from your kids or grandkids.  March does bring rain, but even more than moisture, March brings a change of seasons.  And as the season changes, so do your fitness opportunities.

If you have been walking on a row of treadmills all winter, hiking virtual trails while listening to gym-girl Greta’s visions of grandeur, aka gossip, on the machine next to yours, you’re more than ready to hit the pavement, wet or dry.  Asphalt streets, dirt trails, and school tracks exist in nearly every community and only really nasty weather should send you back to Greta.  Fitness experts often claim that outdoor cardio actually burns calories faster just because of the elements of wind, breathing outdoor air, and dealing with natural changes in elevation.  Yes, on Lion days, you can go back inside and adjust your treadmill to outdoor standards, but it would be a shame to miss watching that Bartlett pear tree on the corner of Magnolia and Vine go through its spring metamorphosis. Don’t forget to take drinking water.

 Bands work-outs are a fantastic source of strength-training and once you’ve taken them to your favorite park, you just might opt to stay outside in the wind and rain if only to enjoy the freedom and flexibility of the work-out.  If you’ve been going to the gym three mornings a week to lift weights, or to do Body Pump, or to zip through the circuit of machines, taking your bands outside to a park will provide a nice break in the winter routine AND if you walk there, you can keep checking on that Bartlett pear.  When the nitrates start falling from the sky, you can always take the bands inside at home or at the gym.  Is there a fitness center at the hospital where you work?  Is there a children’s outdoor area with some poles that support swings or climbing apparatus?  Perfect for bands.  How about doors with hinges.  If there is a low-traffic area inside the hospital where some infrequently used doors with hinges are hanging around, that’s another perfect place for anchoring bands. Maybe you’ll need “permission” to use the space or maybe you’ll need the chief’s approval, but if you really want to do your work-out, you can work it out.  Don’t forget your water.

March brings a variety of weather to your exercise routine – rain, wind and even some stubborn snowfall.  You will probably need to do a blend of trail walks and treadmill, outdoor cycling and indoor elliptical, and you may need to tote the Totes.  But it’s a great time, a hopeful time of year when as the season changes, you can take advantage of the change.  Then when April arrives and the rain comes down, the only thing that will go up is your umbrella.

Learn more about the Bands In the Park work-out on mobile browser at www.bdyfrm.com.