Some Monday #DestinationDeck workouts leave you sweaty.
Some leave you dirty.
Some, if you’re lucky, like today–leave you both.
Here’s the run down: we met up in an almost sketchy lawn in the middle of the Fens–a beautiful and historic greenway area of Boston. We did 4 x 5 min circuits. Two each of an Arm/Core circuit and a Leg/Core circuit.
Arm/Core (1 min each exercise): Plank — Partner dips — Penguin crunches — Pushups — Boat hold
Leg/Core (1 min each exercise): Plank — Squats (or squat jumps) — Penguin crunches — Lateral squats (or skater jumps) — Boat hold
We threw in the killer #Septbastian after we did the first two rounds of circuits. Anyone still asleep who made it that far into the workout might have thought we were done after the 7 full minutes of burpees. But afterwards we still finished the final 2 rounds of circuits.
At the end, everyone was both sweaty and dirty. Boom.
I remember my early days coming to NP. I had become a regular pretty quickly and enjoyed the Monday madness, figuring out each Sunday evening how far the deck was from my house and the route I’d run to get there, or where I’d park to be able to run at least a couple miles each way. I’d also set my clothes out for the morning, to minimize the mistakes that get made in dressing myself when it’s way-too-early-o’clock in the morning. Before Destination Deck workouts the question was always, “what clothes do I not mind getting dirty?” Seriously! Inevitably, if I wore my favorite bright colored shirt or shorts, we’d end up rolling around in the mud. We’d end up sliding down steep hills of grass on our asses or Bojan-ing through goose poop. So rather than anticipate what movements I’d dread because I was going to get dirty, I started just expecting to get dirty and planning my gear for it.
It’s a pretty good rule for life–but especially for fitness. Sure, we’re supposed to be clean, not sweaty, dressed “appropriately” (whatever the hell that means!), and all adult-like most of the time. But that kind of outer appearance leads us to hesitate when it comes to moving, trying things, and purely engaging in what the world has to offer. How many times have you not even had a seat on the grass somewhere because you’re sure you’ll be dirty when you get up?! And have you ever just said “fuck it” and splashed through a puddle, or sat on/layed down in/belly flopped into mud/dirt/snow? When we stop worrying about what the movement will do to our clothes and start focusing on what it will do for our bodies, minds, and smiles, the world gets a little bit (or a lot) more fun. THIS is what makes fitness — especially free fitness on Mondays with November Project– so awesome. We will definitely get sweaty. We will usually get dirty. And we’ll be better for it.
Keep showing up, friends. Keep getting dirty.
PS!!! We are doing a #Sebastian (7 min of burpees) every single Monday in September…or as we like to call it #Septbastians in #Sebtember. If you did it today make sure you WRITE DOWN HOW MANY YOU DID! Each time you do it, you get better at it and we want to see you getting better, more fit, faster, and generally less scared of this awesome feat. Listen to the humans in this photo telling you to SHOW UP next week and see if you can get your best number yet!
