I thought that the fulltime RVing lifestyle would be an active lifestyle just by its very nature. I’ve been disappointed. Images of hiking, biking, kayaking, long walks, and playing pickleball have been replaced with the reality of hours spent sitting while driving, sitting while working on the computer, reading, and watching TV. In other words, if you had to make an effort to put exercise into your life before RVing, you’ll still need to put in the effort in the RV lifestyle.
As it turns out, we find it even harder to get exercise than when we lived in a stationary home. At least there, we could map out a 2 mile route and get into a habit of walking every day. In the RV, we’re at a different location all the time. As I wrote in another post, we can use Google Earth to map a walk wherever we are, but that’s very different from knowing where you are and getting into a routine.
10 minutes of Exercise
Lynn Difley writes here on the RV.net Blog about health and fitness for RVers and I’m always reading her posts looking for inspiration. I know, I know, instead of sitting at the computer reading her post, I should be outside walking or something! I especially liked her post last week about how ‘Every Little Bit Helps’. She writes that, even 10 minutes of simple exercise like squats and marching in place, can make a difference in your fitness level. Then, she mentions the key for me … music! If I could push a button and know that exactly 10 minutes of make-you-feel-like-dancin’ music would play, I could do some heart-pumping exercise for 10 minutes. Even in the small space available in our motorhome.
Playing music from your computer
Many of you are way ahead of me when it comes to music and computers. I have yet to join the iPod revolution, or even iTunes. We still have CD’s of music we bought long ago. And those are my favorites. Whenever I feel like listening to music, I usually put a CD in the CD/DVD player of our stereo system. But, I do know how easy it is to copy some of those CDs to my computer so I can listen to them without putting the CD in the player. It’s called ‘Ripping.’ With Windows XP or Vista, if you insert a music CD into the computer’s CD drive, a window will pop up on your screen asking if you want to Rip it. If you click OK, your computer will proceed to copy the songs from the CD to your computer into My Music folder. It only takes a minute. From now on, you can simply click Start and then Music (My Music in XP), you will see a list of all the albums you have ‘Ripped’ and you can choose one to play. Or, you can open the folder for a particular album and just choose one song to play.
Making a Playlist
But, unlike a CD player, you’re not limited to playing a CD, you can choose songs from many CDs and have them play in whatever order you’d like. You will see onscreen exactly how many minutes each song is, making it a piece of cake to put together 10 minutes of foot-stomping, heart-pounding music. “Footloose” by Kenny Loggins is my all-time favorite, can’t-sit-still-while-this-is-playing music. In fact, it played while I was making the screen shot for this article and I had to get up for 3 minutes and 42 seconds. Do I sound out of breath?
So, Footloose is definitely in my playlist. But, it’s only 3:42, I need another 6:18 for a 10 minute workout. So, I pick something a little slower to start out the 10 minutes … a warmup, if you will. Then I find another fast one, and finish up with a slightly slower song for my ‘cool-down.’ Here is my finished playlist:
Actually, I made 3 different 10 minute playlists, so I don’t get bored with just one! Now, any time I pick to do 10 minutes of exercise, I just open My Music, click on one of the playlists, and – now here’s the important part –
GET UP AND MOVE!
Chris Guld, www.GeeksonTour.com
Pingback: Cheap Car Insurance In Georgia
Pingback: http://www.socialmediafollowing.com/Traffic/alexa-traffic/
Pingback: industrial electrician in Tustin
Pingback: Cheap Auto Insurance In Florida
Pingback: myview surveys
Pingback: Forex Trade Copier
Pingback: Don Doyle
Pingback: buy twitter followers cheap
Pingback: guild wars gold
Pingback: free burgers
Pingback: telefon
Pingback: Michael Alan Turner
Pingback: KEVIN HAWKE
Pingback: Hildred Cifaldi
Pingback: Geary Group
Pingback: TYLER STAMPLE
Pingback: buy proactol
Pingback: Cheap NAS
Frank Madia
Chris,
I bought a Garmin Forerunner and with it I can just take off and either walk or run a loop or a simple out and back. The Forerunner is full of bells and whistles most do not need, but there are several hand held GPS systems available that will allow you to create a route on your computer, transfer it to the device and then just follow the device’s directions out on the road.
Frank
lynn difley
Hi Chris, way to go. put on the music and boogie on down. repeat as needed. guaranteed to sweep the cobwebs out of the brain, the cholesterol out of the arteries and put a smile on your face. I think I’ll just get up and join you, Lynn
Barry Zander
http://www.Pandora.com is a free source of music, with a subscription option, and we’ve had XM Radio in the car since we started traveling almost three years ago, and accepted the free computer service offered about six months ago. I think that since they combined with Sirius and are apparently on hard economic times, they are going to charge for the computer feed.
My “bad cholesterol” is controlled with a daily pill, but my “good cholesterol” is low. An oncologist friend told me that I needed to do more than hiking and aerobic type exercises. He strongly recommended muscle-building routines to build up that cholesterol … so I bought 70 pounds of weights and have used them at least once a week for the past month. And here I am again, sitting at the computer while they remain in the crate.
Patsyc
I have a web-site that I keep on my computer tool box for easy access. It is a music site that has all the oldies on it. You just click on the decade you want , turn up the volume and either jog in place, twist again like you did last summer and do a few squats. Easy and fun. I hope this helps.
http://www.tropicalglen.com/
rrrick08
Chris, You’re making it tougher, for an old couch potato, to make excuses not to excercise. Maybe music is what I have been missing for inspiration. My wife has plenty of will power & enjoys exercise, but has been unable to have it rub off on me. Thanks for the music idea. Rick
Ruth Annan
Thank you, Chris. After 20 years of RVing and falling exactly into the sedentary habits you described, I am going to follow your advice and REFORM!
Bob Difley
Hi Chris – It’s great to see you adopting Lynn’s “every little bit helps” idea for your own workout and having it fit right in to adapting your laptop and CD collection to put together a 10 minute workout. I’ve had the advantage of having a wife who is a fitness expert, and am happy to find that her methods work even for the reluctant spouse. I’ve followed (been coerced into?) her programs and have managed to follow a regime that has worked for me, keeping me fit and relatively trim. Now if she would follow your great ideas on computing and tech she might overcome her tendency to be a Luddite. Thanks for all your computer and tech help. You’re right up there with the best. Bob
Jane
I have a “Walking Off the Pounds” DVD from Leslie Sansome–I can do 1, 2 or 3 mile walk with kicks, knee lifts, etc. in the coach. A side benefit is that it entertains my husband greatly!