Thoughts about fitness

So the floors are still dirty, but the workout is completed. I decided that today's workout would emphasize endurance, so I set the timer for 30s work, 15s rest. After warming up with some lunges and overhead presses using the 18 lb kettlebell, I did 13 rounds of two-handed swings using the 26 pound kettlebell. Why 13 rounds? Well, first of all because it's my lucky number, and secondly because I don't think my hands or forearms could have taken any more than 13 sets. Then I rested for a full minute, and went into bodyweight squats, 7 rounds of 30 squats per round, which got harder with each and every round. Then I did a few round of pushups, then some of ball crunches and I was done.

So I was thinking that one of the problems in working out is that most people don't know what they're trying to accomplish when they go to exercise. For many people, especially women, the general idea is to "tone up" "burn calories" and "lose weight." And that's fine, and I certainly understand it, but I think workouts become way more meaningful if you can assign a purpose to each and every workout. In my case, Friday's 11 mile run was done to promote endurance, and to burn lots of calories (so I could enjoy some indulgent eating). Yesterday's run was done to burn calories (I do that a lot) and recover. Today's workout was designed to promote endurance, like I said, and how that helped me was that when I was getting really tired, I could think about my purpose and it helped me to push past the pain.

Oh, and I must email Tracy to tell her that I roasted some brussels sprouts (delicious!) and some beets the other day, inspired by her food posts. And I even braved some new produce, picking up a parsnip and some turnips, which I'll be trying tomorrow. Thanks Tracy!