You could be doing that at home

Yesterday was Monday. And it was the first Monday morning in over a month that I didn't spend in physical therapy at the orthopaedic center. I've been diligent about going to the gym the last couple of weeks, and I was excited that I could really establish a routine now. The weightlifting (still upper body only for weights) has been going well - I'm getting more confident going into the weight room by myself - and I've been able to add brisk walking into the mix.

It's nice to have the option to add some different activities to my morning routine, but I also need to make sure I'm incorporating the strengthening and stretching exercises for my legs. So in between lifting my whopping 10 and 15 pound weights and walking at a brisk pace of 4.0 mph, I've been spending a fair amount of time in the back corner of the gym with the floor mat.

I don't do the same thing every day - I try to make sure that throughout the week, I'm getting most of my exercises in. Sometimes I use their stability ball, but for the most part, it's just me and the floor mat. In the middle of doing some side planks yesterday, one of the gentlemen I frequently see in the morning made the comment, "You could be doing that at home."

It's true - I could be doing all those things at home. In fact, for a long time, I did do them at home. But there's something different about doing them at the gym. It feels like there's more of an investment. At home, I find excuses to stop early or to put my exercises off. At the gym, I have a chunk of time that I've already set aside for that specific purpose.

There's also a certain amount of social pressure at the gym. Not really in the sense that other people care about what I'm doing, but in the sense that I care how I look in case anyone else is watching. I'll push myself harder at the gym. I'll hold my planks for the full 30 seconds instead of giving up at 20. I'll make sure I hold my wall sits for a full 10 seconds, and that I do all 20 repititions of the swiss ball bridges, even though my hamstrings are screaming.

The other people at the gym don't know what my goals are, and I'm sure they don't care. But because there's a possibility that someone could be paying attention to anything that I'm doing, I'm going to push myself just a little bit harder.

Yes, I could be doing that at home. But I do it much better at the gym!