Working out 7 Days a Week!?

Why on earth would I do this? Well, it was part of my effort to increase my regular calorie burn. But that’s not all. Exercising, which I normally do after work, helps me refresh and reboot myself after a long day at work and I always feel better afterwards. It’s become part of my daily routine. Without it, I feel cranky, my muscles are tense, and my mind feels tired. Nowadays it’s just part of what I do. Period. Side benefit: coming home from work, my focus is to get out and work out as soon as I can which makes me only eat a quick and light dinner or even replace a meal with a nutritional shake. That makes it much less likely to overindulge on dinner and consume too many calories.

Okay, you might say, but is working out every day healthy? Doesn’t the body need time to recover in between workouts? I thought so too, but I can honestly say that I feel great and energized. I don’t feel my body screaming (or whispering) for an off day, no fatigue or overuse (as far as I can tell). It may have to do with this: If I can help it, I never do the same thing more than 2 days in a row; ideally I do a different form of exercise every day. My main stay is Tae Kwon Do (usually Tue/Wed/Sat). If I’m not in the Tae Kwon Do studio, I go running. If I’m not running, I play tennis. If I’m not playing tennis, I hike or swim laps. In winter, I might be able to work skiing in. Key is I do something at least moderately intense and work up a sweat. Since each of these workouts emphasizes different muscle groups and varies cardio/anaerobic, strength, stretching, etc., I can get away without fatigue and overuse.

Yes, on occasion and injury can occur (I sprain a joint or muscle, etc. – hey, Tae Kwon Do is a contact sport and I’m not 20 any more). Then what? Well, I’ve always been able to work around it. If the knee problems come back that I’ve had since I was 16? I go swimming. Calf muscle is acting up – hiking usually works better than running. Back sore? I’ll find a way to do something that doesn’t aggravate it further. There’s always an exercise I can do, despite my injury.

One thing that did help was changing my running style to that of a minimalist runner. Yes, removing cushioning and going to a mid-foot strike has actually helped me reduce stress on my knees and allowed me to run longer and with less impact. Kind of ironic. Despite the thin soles on my shoes, the changes to the biomechanics greatly reduce joint impact. (For more info, check this out!)

It makes sense that if you challenge your body with a diverse set of different sports and exercises, you’ll obviously increase your overall level of fitness, but without the fatigue and overuse that comes from doing only one or a small number of different exercises. I’m not sure how long I can keep this up, but for now I feel good and am motivated to keep going. It’s what I do.

If anyone else out there has had similar experiences, I’d be curious to learn more. Do tell and leave a comment!