The Battle of Rowers vs Stairmaster

Rowing is where it’s at! I totally forgot about rowing machines. I can never go on them for too long because they make my back muscles go crazy because they are actually being used for a change! But last night I did a solid 15 minutes on a rower and it was pretty good. My back feels like someone round house kicked me yesterday but that is exactly what I was wanting, to feel like I am making real progress on strengthening my back. I love the fact that it is a cardio workout as well. That was my main draw to it yesterday. I wanted to get 30 minutes of cardio in and after 17 minutes on the StairMaster I ventured over to the rower to work a bit more on my back. I think I figured out that I just need to go nice and slow with a consistent rhythm on the rower and I can go for quite a while. Usually I try to go pretty hard and want to give up after a few minutes. But Last night I felt like I could keep on going last night for quite a while.

A little known fact about me, I LOVE the StairMaster Which, I know many people do but I really love it. It is the number one thing that I use at the gym. The main reason is because they are too expensive to buy one for myself. But they are such great cardio! They instantly get my heart racing within a minute or two. Another huge bonus is they work wonders on your back side with very little effort. It’s like doing 20 minutes of mini lunges. For me it’s one of the most wonderful machines you can find in a gym.

Don’t get me wrong, I love stationary bikes and rowers but I feel like I get the most from my gym experience if I get to use the StairMaster. Got to have the nice booty to show off in my workout leggings! 

What are your favorite pieces of gym equipment? What do you hate doing at the gym? For me, it's the treadmills and elliptical. Simply because I love to be outside for those types of activities and being on them makes me feel like I am mouse on a spinning wheel and makes em feel like I am going bonkers. So I try not to spend my time on them when I am at the gym unless I am desperate. 

Even though I have only been doing the gym visits for a few days now, I am already feeling a million times better than I was before. I am still exhausted for no reason but I am feeling like my blood is flowering a bit better and my muscles are waking up to say hello once again. I am really glad that I came up with this grab-and-go idea for my gym clothes. This morning I added to the idea by placing a bag with several pairs of tennis shoes in it in my car as well. I tend to wear my shoes back into my apartment after I am done at the gym and I don't want to forget to grab them before leaving in the morning and then blame my not going to the gym on not having shoes. So I may seem to have a lot of bags in my car (an Escape so I have plenty of room, especially sense I keep it ultra clean) but it really isn't that bad and is incredibly organized. 

Now to recap my No Excuses method for my car: 1 gym bag with all my every day gym essentials that will always be left in the car, 1 bag of pre-packed grab-and-go gym outfits and 1 bag of tennis shoes as back ups. I think this is now about as fine tuned as it will get. I am sure I fill find a couple more quirks along the way, but this system I think will continue to be even better over time. 

Do you have any ideas for No Excuse ways to get yourself to the gym? I'd love to hear them. 

Thank you for reading. 

Keep on Running!