Life Is A Workout

by Cathy

We only have one car.

Yes, you heard right. We are a family of four and we only have one car. We've gotten many shocked looks from people when we tell them this. "How DO you manage?!?!" Frankly, we don't need a second car. It's one of the many perks of living in the city. Everything is within walking distance (remember walking?): the bus stop, the train stop, the park, Jewel, the produce store, a bakery, Target, clothing boutiques, ice cream shops, Walgreens and even the girls' school if we were in the mood for a good power walk. We save money on insurance, maintenance, gas and upkeep. And the car we do have? It will be 10 years old next year and has a measly 56,000 miles on it.

Today, I took the bus back from work since my husband needed the car. It was a beautiful day - one of the last beautiful days of the year - so I decided that I would stop off at Target on the way home, pick up some stuff and walk the seven blocks back home so as to get my workout in. A one-two punch. 'Some stuff' turned into six bags of stuff, including a 75oz. bottle of laundry detergent. But I was determined to enjoy the beautiful day and get my workout in. So as I trudged down these blocks, dodging bicyclists, women with strollers and the ogling eyes of perverts against the warm but strong winds, my fingers were getting stiff, my forearms began to ache and my back and shoulder muscles were being strained. By block five, I longed for my car. Then quickly, I realized: 'People do this every day.

I see moms with strollers and yet more kids lugging behind, bundled for all types of weather, carrying bags of groceries, waiting at the bus. We walk and run on treadmills and stairmasters while others NEED to walk miles to get somewhere or live in buildings where they have to walk up and down flights of stairs because they don't have a choice; we lift ginormous weights to bulk up while others NEED to haul, carry, hoist, load, unload, push, pull heavy weights as part of their jobs and go home with aching backs and sore muscles because they are providing for their family and not because they want to look good in their new pair of jeans; we take a 'hot' yoga class so that we can sweat even more while others are living and working in desert-like conditions.

For them, LIFE is a workout. Sometimes, when I've had a long day of physical nonstop madness - up and down three flights of stairs with groceries, scrubbing, cleaning, lifting, squatting, walking, running around - and I am exhausted as heck, I wonder incredulously at how silly it would be for me attempt to 'workout' when all it seems I am doing is moving, moving, moving AND being productive at the same time. Is an added workout really necessary?

Workouts come in different ways for different people. I have a friend who purposely mops her floors every night because she gets a good arm workout in. Added perk: a spanking clean house! So give your cars a break and get out and walk to the store; squat and lunge while picking up toys; tighten those abs while hoisting that laundry basket or your toddler. Just like life, a workout is what you make of it.