It's one of those extremely rare days in San Diego when it is raining from sun up to sun down. Unfortunately with all the great things this rain brings us, it also tends to bring down our usual bright San Diegan energy. Traffic is heavier, limiting most people's free time to make it to the gym. Our often packed trails are muddied and not easily hiked. But there is still hope for us to reach our 10k steps and keep our fitness on track.
I like to use these rainy days to my advantage by focusing on the aspects of my fitness that normally receive less of my attention. None of us are perfect with our training, nutrition, or both. Personally I struggle with doing my injury prevention exercises and stretching/mobility practices. If I'm feeling especially lazy due to the weather I will do these Hip Exercises.
Because I won't be running outside like I do most days of the year, I will opt for either a treadmill workout like my Quarter Negatives, an interval workout. Tread workouts can be extremely difficult but highly efficient. You can burn a high number of calories and push yourself to reach new limits in your speed. You can also look to try a new cardio class. Apps like ClassPass and Lymber are great ways to test new classes out with only a small investment.
I might even take a rest day and use this time that I would normally use to hit the gym to try a new healthy recipe like Lisa's Chunky Prookies. Rest days are also great for adjusting your training program or rethinking your fitness goals. It's always good to revisit your goals and your action plan to achieve them. The more attention you pay to your goals the more likely you will be to follow through with these steps.
San Diego is a special city in that we aren't usually hindered by weather. But these strategies can be used by anyone under multiple circumstances. If your having one of those days where you can't muster up any energy to workout, you are too busy to make it to your favorite fitness class or you're stuck in a rut, take some time to work on other areas of your health. It is much better to invest some time to all aspects of your health than all your time to only one or two aspects.