Quitting the Gym
When you finally get into the routine of working out it feels great. You start to see the gains, improvements in mood and the reward system worked to create consistency in your life. Things are going really well and you start thinking of the next reward/goal; then something bad happens. I had a pretty bad fall on January 31. As someone who has a high pain tolerance I was immediately concerned when I could not move my left hand and was sure it had broken in this unfortunate accident.
After 5 hours in the ER I found out that my wrist wasn’t broken but they couldn’t give me any additional information other than ice it and take pain meds. Over the next 3 weeks I turned every insurance rock to figure out what was wrong with my hand, why the swelling was still there and what my next steps should be for a full recovery. I’m now writing this blog with a “sling” on my hand that prevents my thumb and lower wrist from moving too much in order to heal my severely damaged ligament.
Seeing that I could barely type for work I knew that I wouldn’t be able to maintain my typical gym regimen. Sometimes life feels like a carefully curated dance and one step out of place means all of the other structures falling apart. If I can’t workout what is the next best outlet? Skating, but that requires wrist guards - guess I’m not skating. Playing a video game? Nope that requires excessive hand and thumb movement. Yoga? Can you successfully down dog without weight on both hands? Would I really need to quit the gym for almost 4-6 weeks so this thing could heal? I was down bad and daily tasks took so much longer.
After much thought, I decided to sign up for the Peloton app and try spinning again. It was the only workout(other than incline walking) that I could do without risk of injuring my hand. They have every genre of music, a ton of instructors, and that morning motivation that I needed. While I typically despise spinning, this felt fun! I was able to burn 300 - 500 calories and get that feeling of accomplishment first thing in the day. Friends who are on the Peloton app have shared their favorite rides and even offered to ride at the same time, it’s a sense of community I didn’t know I needed.
Moral of the story - there is always another way. You didn’t think I would really quit the gym?!
