Getting injured can give an easy out to skip the gym (or to go running, or hiking, or whatever form of exercise one chooses to do). Recently I fractured my radial head (or my elbow) and was left with the choice, to exercise or to lounge. At first I picked lounging because it sounded nice, and I thought it would be easier. As it turns out, it was not easier. I had become addicted to my daily endorphin rush and decided I needed that back in my life.
As I have already mentioned, I don't love working out, and if I'm being honest, cardio is my least favorite part. I like weight training, because it makes me feel like a strong badass that could take somebody out if I needed to. However, weight training was out of the question with my injury, so I had to embrace cardio. I started slow with a fast paced mile walk, which my dogs seemed to love and wanted more of, but it just wasn't satisfying for me. That's when I remembered the pool, my first true love when it comes to cardio.
There is something so serene and peaceful about swimming laps. It's one, two three, breathe. One, two, three, breathe, and nothing else. No one can talk to me or bother me, because my head is underwater. I don't have to smile at people I make eye contact with because I am not making eye contact with anyone. I don't have to do small talk either because no one can hear me under the water. Unfortunately, once I entered the pool, I realized I could only use one arm for swimming. I did side stroke for a while with my one good arm, until I realized how much it bothered me to work one side of my body and not the other.
Feeling discouraged, and as though maybe I should just lounge until my arm healed I sat in the pool and stretched, until I realized I could use the kick board. Now, using the kick board is not my favorite way to swim, but I knew I had to embrace it if I wanted to continue to do cardio while my arm was hurt and I'm glad I did.
Now, when I visit my personal trainer for the first time since being injured I won't be so out of breath when she gives me my new routine. I am excited to start weight training again now that my elbow has healed, and get back to doing the ropes and using the Queenax. It's always easy to quit when an injury happens, but it's so much better to keep training. For me it allowed me to continue to feel good about myself and my body, when there are so many things out there telling me I should feel anything but good about my curvy plus size body.
