Exercise update

I was reminded by seeing the throw-away remark by Robert Scoble in a long post about the need to get some excercise to help deal with stress, that I haven’t really discussed our exercise plan here lately. So, by way of an open letter to Scoble, here’s an update:

Robert,

I saw with great interest your comment about needing to get to the gym and how it might help with stress and I just wanted to encourage you to do exactly that. My wife and I made the decision after the first of the year to take advantage of the fact that works for a university to go ahead and get a membership to use the campus recreation facilities. I knew I needed to get in better shape, and lose some weight, but never having been a big “fitness” guy, I had my doubts about how well I would take to it. So we only bought one quarter’s worth of a membership. That expired earlier this month and there was no doubt we’d be renewing.

From one IT worker/blogger to another, there’s simply no better way to transition from work to home or personal tech projects than spending an hour or so working out. For me, it cleanses the stress of the work day and allows me to get focused on what comes next. That gives me more energy to get more done in the evening than I had before. Now, instead of vegging on a TV show, or struggling to focus on personal projects after a long day at work, I hit the gym, spend 45 minutes on the bike, or treadmill do a little weight training and head home completely ready for what comes next, feeling less stressed, less worn out, more energetic, and more mentally aware.

What would be even better is if you could get Maryam to go as well. Knowing that we’re going to be doing something together 3-4 times a week helps Angela and I stay in touch when things are busy, and gives us a shared goal, which is a very good thing to have. It keeps the wife from feeling like all my goals and interests are tech-related. 🙂

I’m not going to get all fitness-nazi on you. Anyone who knows me either in real life or on-line knows I’m no stranger to pizza, beer, Twinkies, etc. and I don’t really care if I carry a few extra pounds, so I haven’t just started dropping pounds and proclaming my exercise program to be the best thing since sliced bread. But, I have lost some weight, I see a bit of difference, and more importantly, I’m mentally healthier because of it. I feel stressed less often, and the extra energy is helping me get more things off my to-do list.

That seems like reason enough, doesn’t it?