Fishing

Creating time for outdoor exercise

By Alli Harvey

During the workweek, I often wonder if my body is taking on the physical form of worry.  I hunch, tense up, and furrow my eyebrows — all while thumbing the tiny screen on my phone, or click-clacking away on a laptop. It's really not a good look on a human to fixate on a machine, oblivious to immediate surroundings (including my own body).

I have to actively relax myself from my own lifestyle, and one thing that really works for me is getting some outdoor exercise during the workday.

Screens are addictive. Even when I have time for a quick breather while at work, it's difficult to peel myself away.

What works best is to exercise before work. One thing I know about myself, and this is different for everybody, is my energy is highest in the morning. If I wait until 5 p.m. to exercise, it will be 10 times harder to get out the door, and it's far less likely I'll have a good time.

Going outdoors before work isn't always possible though, either because something comes up, I have an early meeting, or I was out too late the night before. A bunch of things that can interfere.

So when I don't get out before work, I have to do the next best thing, but that takes some planning and cajoling on my part. Getting outdoors during the workday means dragging myself away from illuminated devices that are beeping, popping, flagging, and blinking for my attention.

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Quick workouts

First I tried the "scientific" seven-minute workout, with seven exercises at high speed with very short rests over the course of seven minutes. Now comes the similar six-minute workout. Interval training, with high- intensity bursts of power with brief recovery time in between. Workouts like these are being touted as having the same or more benefits as longer duration, lower intensity physical activity like running and biking. At least, they don't require equipment, except perhaps a chair or bench.

I love longer-duration physical activities. In fact, I pride myself on my ability to go slow. I may not be fast, but I can stay out there a long time.

So the shorter, higher intensity workouts are not exactly something that gets me out of bed in the morning. Still, these types of workouts are a lot better than nothing. Often, they challenge me to try something different, and I find afterward that I am proud of the not-normally-sore new muscles I feel in my body.

Better yet is going outside to the yard or a park for a quick workout. It's a quick dose of Vitamin D combined with pushups.

Sample workouts like these are easily found online, with video or photo tutorials.

Walking meetings

Then there's always the fallback of taking work outside.

I know. First of all, not everyone has the luxury to do this. Hopefully everyone at least gets breaks and could decide to head outdoors for a minute instead of slumping down in a break room or office, hunched over a phone. I've always wished there were another way as socially acceptable as smoking a cigarette to say "Hi, I need to go stand outside for five minutes."

Second of all, even for those of us that can decide to dial into a conference call while walking on the coastal trail, is this really work?

Doesn't "real" work entail shallow breathing, clenched jaw, shoulders-up-to-the-ears while hunched over a computer? Anything else is just somehow less productive, right?

Part of me believes this. When others around me strap themselves to their desks, I feel like I should too otherwise I'm not being "productive".

The other part of me knows that if I don't get up and walk around and breathe air that didn't come from a vent in the wall, I will not be "productive."

My life, like many urban Alaskans' lives, is structured much like your average American's. Despite living in arguably the most gorgeous state, with an endless array of wild lands, I spend the most of my weeks typing away at a pretty normal job. It's the small outdoor excursions during the workday — the early morning run, the quick and difficult workout, the walking meeting, or the hike in the evening — that make me feel Alaskan.

Alli Harvey lives, works and plays in Anchorage.

Alli Harvey

Alli Harvey lives in Palmer and plays in Southcentral Alaska.

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