I Joined a Gym and I Liked It....The Smell of Them Sweaty Armpits....

OK but seriously, other than wanting to pay homage to the wonderful, Katy Perry, I joined a gym for the first time in my 26 years of life last month. It may not seem like a big deal but to me it felt like I just bought a car, or got a new puppy. Something BIG.

I must admit, I have never really been so good getting regular physical activity in each day. However, this was not the main reason for this momentous milestone. No, I wasn't feeling fat nor was I trying to fit in with everyone hitting the gym for the new year. The tipping point was when I went to plug in my computer to blast music and hype myself up for a morning workout, I felt a ripping pain in my lower back and fell to the ground. I wasn't going anywhere for a while.

I thought to myself - I am wayyyy too young to be having back issues. How could this happen? As I laid on the couch with an ice pack, I thumbed through Google searches trying to figure out why I was "aging" so quickly. Sure enough, the last 2.5 years of sitting at a computer desk 8+ hours each day had taught my lower back muscles that they don't need to work. They turned to "mush" and said "Ef you Suzie." It was time to do something about it.

Sure, joining a gym isn’t for everyone and of course, I could have learned and done back exercises in my own apartment but I knew joining a gym would make me commit to improving my back strength.

It's easy to ignore and forget about once the healing is complete but I didn't want a repeat of this debilitating pain.

So now, I’m improving my back strength, improving my cardio endurance and strength training 3 times/week and I LOVE IT. To all you ‘desk jockies” out there – take action now and get moving!