Watch Out For the Falling Treadmill

Buenos Dias, fitmepeeps. Have you missed me? Truth be told, I've been questioning whether I'm actually qualified as a fit blogger. Why, you ask? Well, apparently I don't know how to operate a treadmill. I'll spare you the details of my own treadmill mishap. Rather, I'll give you an "imaginary" scenario in which you, the reader, get to choose the outcome.

Here it is...

It's Friday morning. Your house is (once again) full of family-guests. Your mom has requested that you accompany her to meet your brother's future mother-in-law at the reception venue in approximately two hours. Everyone leaves for other wedding-planning events. You have the house to yourself, and before dropping your own children off at your angel mother-in-law's house (so you can actually enjoy the outing), you decide to squeeze in a quick workout.

Option 1: Treadmill
Option 2: Yoga
Option 3: P90X

You choose the treadmill option. You head downstairs and quickly move the air mattress and lovesacs out of the way. You proceed to move the treadmill away from the wall. You step on the treadmill to wheel it into place before lowering the running belt to the ground. You forget to check to make sure the belt was actually latched at the top. As you tilt the treadmill towards you, the unlatched belt falls, smacking you in the head, and knocking you into the wall.

What do you do next?

A. You sit on the floor and cry for a minute, then get up, set up the treadmill properly, and run anyway (with a pounding headache, and a mixture of tears, blood, and sweat on your face).

B. You scream for your 3-year old to bring you the phone so you can call 911.

C. You lay on the floor crying hysterically as you think of the "what-ifs" for the next 20 minutes. What if I'd been knocked unconscious or paralyzed and my kids found me downstairs and didn't know what to do, and no one found me for days...

D. You curse the treadmill and decide to never run again. But you proudly show everyone the big bruise on your head from when your treadmill tried to kill you.

That's the scenario. And since this isn't my story...ahem...I'm curious what you would do. (Psssshhh...like I wouldn't check to make sure the treadmill was latched. Duh.) Choose your option!

Fitness In The Great Outdoors

I'm going to sneak out on a limb here and say that Spring just might possibly FINALLY be here. After a crazy snow storm last week, the temperatures look like they might actually be on the rise...for good. Well, at least for a few months. HALLELUJAH! I, for one, need the mental pick-me-up that warm temperatures bring.

While living in the-land-of-serious-dark-all-day-long-winters-Finland for a year and a half, I realized how much I really really love the sun. Winters were SERIOUSLY depressing. I remember looking at my watch at 2:00 in the afternoon while walking around in the pitch dark, thinking, "how am I going to survive the day in the dark for 7 more hours before we go home?" Summers in Finland, however, were heaven. The sun never slept!

In my life, I've discovered two things that really do keep me going. SUN. and EXERCISE. I've been missing the sun in a bad way!

I came across one study that shows the great benefits for children of combining the outdoors AND exercise. This particular study shows how a walk in the park improves attention in children with ADHD. I don't have ADHD, but I have plenty of moments (more than I'd like to admit), where I am mentally fatigued, easily distracted, and NEED TO GET OUT OF MY DANG HOUSE! A brisk walk outside ALWAYS makes me feel better. And running around in the park changes the temperament of my 2-year-old (in a good way) even more than a good nap...which is saying A LOT. This outside-induced-happiness has an even greater effect on my mood. Monster-Mom becomes Fun-Happy-Relaxed-Mom.

Besides being a better parent, here are a few more benefits of exercising outdoors:

• Running outside instead of on a treadmill increases the caloric burn by about 5 percent (due to wind and changing terrain).
• Changing temperatures increase calorie burn by about 7 percent because your body has to work to keep the internal temp at 98.6 degrees!
• SUN + EXERCISE = MOTHER NATURE'S ZOLOFT! This study, conducted in 2007 by researchers in England, found that outdoor workouts (i.e. A walk in the woods, a brief retreat, and even gardening) are ALL Better than anti-depressants alone! When they compared the mental benefits of a 30-minute walk outside with an indoor stroll, 71 percent who walked outside felt less tense after. 72 percent of the indoor walkers felt even more stressed.

The treadmill is one of my fondest old friends. I love that I can look down at any given second, and know EXACTLY how LONG I've been running, how FAR I've been running, how FAST I'm running, how much LONGER I'll be running, etc. I'm a numbers-kind-of-girl. But lately with my training, I've been running outside a lot more. And I have to say, I think I'm officially converted.

I honestly used to prefer the treadmill. Not anymore. When I'm outside, I don't feel like I'm running because I have to. I'm not yelling at kids to stay away from the treadmill, to share toys, to stop hitting each other. I don't increase my speed to hurry and get the run over with. I enjoy it. If the kids are with me in the jogging stroller, they enjoy it. I feel much more rejuvenated at the end. 10 miles outside feels like 4 miles on a treadmill (time-wise). Don't get me wrong. The treadmill has, and will always be my fall-back workout. But this summer, I'm going to take advantage of mother nature. I need it.

And running isn't all I'm going to do outside! Here are a few more outdoor workout ideas:

• Walking--one of the best lifetime sports!
• Jogging/Running--need I say more?
• Cycling
• Swimming
• Hiking
• Strength Training at the Park! Seriously...parks are FULL of FREE exercise equipment. Maybe I'll do a full post on this one later...I'm envisioning swing lunges using the swing to elevate the back leg, monkey bars for pull-up(s), straddling benches, swing/slide push-ups, stepping up onto benches, running around the playground, etc.
• Beach Yoga (for those vacationing or lucky enough to live in Sunny CA)
• Jumprope!

Are you convinced yet? Are you ready to trade in your gym membership? What gets you moving outside? Or do you still prefer the treadmill?