It’s time for a new installment of Workout Wednesday. This month, I’m talking about the couch. Yes, the lovely couches we have been sitting on all winter, waiting for spring, are ready to be abandoned and fumigated from the Cheetos dust and apathy that are clinging to them. It’s time to open up the doors and windows and fling all that winter dankness and drudgery to the winds. If you’re living anywhere in the southeast, you’re flinging things into the pollen dust fields, but that’s another story.
What’s the magic with the couch? Easy. It’s something we can vividly visualize. When you hear success stories, often the starting points refer to the couch. Then, in 8 short weeks, people are crossing race finish lines. Everyone needs to start where they are and for many, the couch is the starting point.
When taking those first few steps to becoming a workout royalty (king, queen or joker), it’s deciding to skip the couch and mindless TV and go for a walk instead. Or go for a walk BEFORE coming home and then the couch time is earned. Or, it’s getting off assess during commercials and doing something active. Whatever the goal, the couch is usually involved somehow.
What options are out there?
- First, I love and adore this one. The Couch-to-5K is what made me a lifelong runner. 12 years later, I’m still running. All you need is 8 weeks, patience, and expectations you’ll get there. Literally from the couch to crossing a finish line.
- For the extra adventurous, why not a Couch-to-Half-Marathon? You will need 20 weeks for this one. That’s almost half a year. Grab a calendar and a dose of perspective while tackling this one. I certainly can’t judge anything because I seriously doubt I’ve had 20 consistent weeks of training for anything in my entire 12 years of running. Between fall and winter allergies/flu/pneumonia, I don’t have the luxury of being sick-free in 20 weeks. That hasn’t stopped me from running over 30 half marathons.
- Want to be a literal fierce beast? Couch to CrossFit is your goal. While there isn’t a proven time limit on this since everyone is starting from a different fitness level, I can tell you from experience that just 3-4 weeks of consistent 3-4 CrossFit workouts a week will make you FEEL like you’re the baddest of the badasses. No lie, even though I was so far away from a real pull-up or flipping a tire, I walked taller, sat up straighter, made eye contact with people, and slept like a baby every single night. Each workout resulted in improvement and it was seriously addicting.
- Want to be bendy before getting faster or fiercer? Couch potato to Yogi is a good start. 12 poses for beginners.
I hope this helps with some spring cleaning of the winter doldrums and encourages you to get off the couch and go do something fierce for your body this week! Happy Workout Wednesday!