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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Training... From the Desk

One thing that I find the hardest part of being a 'professional' is that you sit alllll day... and stare at your computer allllll day... and then have to find motivation and energy to train and/or go to practice before or after work. Not all professionals sit as much as others, though I think I'm glued to my desk, and am only out of the office on a rare occasion. It reminds me of being in grade school, the excitement of your field trip going to the zoo in Philadelphia, or the Science Center in Harrisburg... you got excited about that for weeks! When I have a networking event, lunch, meeting that is out of the office, I look forward to it for weeks. Pathetic? Yes, absolutely.

When I thought about writing this blog, I wanted to post some information on the health implications of sitting at your desk for too long. There are several conditions that plague office dwellers. RSI (repetitive strain injury) is one that covers a broad range of issues. Check out this NBC/iVillage article "Is Your Office Killing You?" HOLY CRAP, I'm a goner.

I get up fairly often during the day, but after reading the article, I'm not sure if I should or shouldn't. The 10x/day I get up to fill my water bottle &/or use the ladies' room... I have to walk by our laser printer, use a public restroom (though there are only 6 females in my office and the b-rms are cleaned daily), walk by dusty bookshelves... and then back to my desk to type and stare at my computer screen for about 45 minutes before there is an empty water bottle and a full bladder, in which I repeat the process. That right there - without including the commute into work covers 5 of the 8 ways my "office could be killing me." Yikes! (Check out this cool view of my cubicle from my computer's point of view.)

After such a long hard day of sitting, how do I find the motivation to train? The first thing that helps is training/working out is not a chore, its more of a hobby or necessity for me. I treat it as part of my day, like its a meeting I have to go to or I'll be fired (read: fat). There is also the motivation of my 'Team' where I know that if I'm not doing my part to keep fit, I will let others down. These things combined with the fact that Crossfit is not cheap - keep me going.

I've gone through what I estimate to be an average M-F work week for me:
I work for 8-10 hours a day.
Workout which will go anywhere from 20 mins - 1.5 hours, along with the 20 minute commute.
Practice which is about a 5-6hour round trip commute... 1 or 2x/week.
Waking hours at home - 13-15 max.
  • 6 making/eating meals
  • 4 getting ready for work or bed
  • 2 doing regular house hold things... which leaves me with about
  • 1-2 disposable hours b/t M-F in any given in-season week... which are filled with things like softball, the occasional week night out.... orrrrrr sometimes I park my butt on the couch and watch Criminal Minds.
This can be a taxing schedule, which is hard to stick to. I get called crazy pretty often, as does IB (probably for more then just the long commute to practice) and so will Keystone's newest Maryland crew! But I chalk it up to the fact that those people don't understand what it is to be a part of a team that has gone on a roller coaster journey in the past 4 years that I've been a part of the club.

What keeps you motivated?


*Random thought of the day: Why do Maryland drivers REFUSE to use turn signals?*

3 comments:

  1. I have the same problems you do...glued to my computer all day and then sometimes it hard to get motivated to work out.

    Having a partner (The Girl) has really helped my workout schedule! Then it really is a meeting, obligation or scheduled event and I won't be nearly as likely to skip it.

    I have also found that if I go home...its even harder for me to actually leave and go to the gym, so I head to the gym right after work.

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  2. SC - I am the same way, if I go home - it's done! I have to go straight from work. Having a partner also helps def!

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  3. I like to waste my free hours reading blogs at my desk in my freezing trailer contemplating the fact that my workout partner doesn't leave his office until 5:30 at the earliest but doesn't need to be in until 9.. versus me in by 7 am at the latest and ready to go at 4:30.

    I am really good at wasting time.

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