What a weekend! The weather has been beautiful, I got my hair did, my husband and I went out to eat (a few times) and we got a TON of yard work done at our house. Since moving in, we haven’t had a lot of time to get down and dirty in our yard. The last month has seemed like a whirl wind. Once we got in here we were back and forth for two weeks getting our loft ready for our tenant and then we flew off on vacation for a week. This has truly been the first weekend that we have been home and had the time to dedicate to our house. Finally!
While I tend to hear a lot of people complain about housework and yard work, I have really found myself enjoying it. First of all, yard work is a great workout. My core, back arms and even legs are without a doubt tired and sore from the hours spent raking, mowing, planting, digging and cleaning up. And quite frankly, anyone who knows me knows that I’m always up for a good workout. And second of all, I also found it liberating, much like working out. I was blogging in my head for hours (I do this a lot) which always tends to be a great way of clearing my head.
I used to be a total gym rat; however, the last few years I have become so sick of going to a “regular gym” only to waste a day inside using machines to workout. My love for exercise and staying fit has grown, but I prefer to not do it in a gym. I think my real love for being outside started when I met my husband. He continues to inspire and motivate me to step outside of my comfort zone. He got me back into skiing, inspired me to run, and recently got me into cycling. Now please don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I never enjoyed being outside or doing things outside before, but I think the difference is before I always kept myself confined to working out inside. The gym was my comfort zone and I assumed if I wanted to stay fit and workout that’s where I had to be. After taking a nutrition class, doing a lot of my own research and essentially learning through experience, I am a lot more educated on what being fit and healthy really means. And I can tell you that you do not need a regular gym to acquire health or fitness. I often wonder why people go to the gym to “pick things up and put them down” in an effort to build muscle and get fit? Honestly, what happened to using your own body to get these results? Pushups, situps, burpees, mountain climbers, pullups, lunges, squats…the lost goes on! Why is that the majority of people would rather go use man made machines to workout? Now, what does any of this have to do with yard work? Everything! While raking, helping my husband mow the lawn (yes I did and I asked to help!) and cleaning up winters mess, I realized I was using so many muscles. Not that I was surprised, but I was sweating, sore and could feel my entire body working without lifting a single weight or using a single workout machine. I was raking and lifting wheel barrels full leaves, branches and crap which completely engaged my core, back, legs and arms. I’m not gonna lie, I had every intention to go for a hike on the trails behind our house this afternoon, but when I came inside at 3:45pm I was beat! I hit the shower, put on my comfiest sweats, made a cup of green tea and sat down on the couch.
With the exception of taking yoga weekly and barre classes two to three times a week (my new obsession); I don’t go to a regular gym. I would always rather be outside and for cardio I either hike, run, walk, cycle (in the winter I do put my road bike on a trainer), ski ect. I absolutely hate being on a machine that’s helping me work; I find it boring and unsatisfying. I was joking with my neighbor this morning and said, “Who needs a gym membership when you have a yard to tend to?!” He responded with, “I say that all the time!” I was also talking about it with my husband and he said, “Yea, why do you think landscapers are always ripped!” I guess I never thought about it, but he is right, they’re ripped for a reason and that reason is because they’re working their bodies to the core doing other people’s yard work!
We have an acre of land to maintain and make pretty and it’s already come a long way from the hard work we put in this weekend. So after sweating it out in the back yard and pretty much making that my gym this weekend; I’m excited to add yard work to my list of outdoor activities. If you spend most of your time in the gym, I challenge you to spend a few hours raking, you might just be surprised at the results!
Until next time, I’m off to go have dinner with my hubby! Happy sweating lovahs, readers and bloggers 🙂
Sparke
One side of the yard freshly cut and raked.
My hubby watering the side of one of ours sheds where I planted sunflower seeds! Hoping they grow!
My husband blowing all the crap off the roof!
Looks so much better after raking. Now to put down fresh mulch!