Advertisement

Why To Exercise Today: Put On Your Own Oxygen Mask First

Writer Anna Rubin demonstrates proper technique
Writer Anna Rubin demonstrates proper technique

I highly recommend it for two reasons:
1) It captures beautifully the relentless busyness of the lives of working parents.
2) It also captures how, for many of us, a key element of taking care of ourselves in the face of all that busyness is exercise — often to our own surprise.
Anna writes:

For me, going to the gym is a great way to recharge.

Not only did it help me take off the 20 pounds I’d put on when my kids were young—those half-eaten chicken nuggets, goldfish crackers and other scraps I’d mindlessly shoveled into my mouth had caught up to me—but it became a fantastic social outlet as well. I found a whole new community of people, including lots of other mothers, along with many different ways to burn off some serious calories and recharge.

I’ve tried lots of things—walking, tap-dance (it looked so fun when my then five-year-old was learning it. Turns out it wasn’t my thing), running (hated it), belly dance (yes, I took an eight-week course just for fun. I was terrible at it), boot camp, pilates, yoga, boxing. You name it, I’ve probably tried it.

What I’ve settled into for these past two to three years is a nice balance of cardio and strength training, almost exclusively through group exercise classes at several area Y’s. I regularly spin and take boot camp, sports drill and strength conditioning classes. I look forward to my time at the Y and the friends I will see there. It is a great community of people. We celebrate babies and birthdays. We try to help when someone is going through a rough patch. We look out for one another.

Although I often leave the Y dripping with sweat and exhausted, I find exercise provides a real boost for my sense of well-being. Now, if a day or two goes by without exercising, I get grumpy as all get go. I need it like I need my coffee in the morning.

I’ve become someone who loves to exercise. I would have laughed myself silly if you’d suggested such a thing could be true 6-10 years ago when I was out of shape and loathed exerting myself.

This program aired on August 9, 2011. The audio for this program is not available.

Headshot of Carey Goldberg

Carey Goldberg Editor, CommonHealth
Carey Goldberg is the editor of WBUR's CommonHealth section.

More…

Advertisement

More from WBUR

Listen Live
Close