Place and path: Induced exercise part 15.

(Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6  7  8  9  10 11  12 13 and 14)

Even though we have picked up on some other threads that need to be covered -- psychological "flow," and feeling like an athlete when you mostly need to use exercise tapes or books at home -- I have to finish out the Big Four parts of an exercise plan.

I have already made recommendations about two of these:

1. Time slot:  Depending on which is more appropriate for your activity, either begin with five minutes every day OR with two full-length sessions every week. 
2. Activity:  Choose activities that allow you to claim the title "athlete."  

The other two are route---the place or path where you exercise---and people---making sure that the people you're responsible for are taken care of during your time.  For these I am not going to recommend, so much as I am going to try to suggest some ideas and principles.

Let's talk about place and path.  What might those be?

Outside, beginning and ending at your front door.  Around the neighborhood, around the block, in your own yard.  Outside there is weather; weather can be worked around, or met head on.  How will you feel when it is wet, cold, or slippery?  How will you feel when it is hot and sunny?  Is your neighborhood safe by day?  By night?  

Outside, beginning and ending at some other door.  The neighborhood where your children take piano lessons for an hour each week, or the park right next to the grocery store.  The track behind the school.  The little wooded nature center that offers classes for kids.  The area around your best friend's home, or your kids' grandparents' house.   Where do you go every day, week, or month?  What outdoor places can be found nearby? 

Outside, beginning and ending at your car door.  Around (or in!) a lake, along a hilly trail, up and down some long set of stairs you've driven by countless times but never climbed; over the snow, or through the puddles; around the walking or running track; near the play structure at the park.  In some other neighborhood that's safer or pleasant than yours.  A big open field, with room for everyone to run as fast as they can, where everyone can be seen.  Where could you drive a couple of times a week?  Where could you stop on the way home?

Outside, going from one place to another.  The trip to the grocery store, to the local coffee shop.  The way to your best friend's house, the way to work, the way home.  From church to your friend's house, from the store to work.  Too far?  What if you drive partway and leave your car behind?  What will you need to carry?  How will you carry it?  If you have no path you could create one:  Take a bus a few blocks away, come back under your own power.  Every week you could ride a little farther.

Inside, in your own house.   The bedroom, the family room, the basement, the attic.  Behind a locked door or no door at all.  Up and down the flights of stairs.  Before the TV or the computer or the Wii.  There may be a place to use equipment; a place for heavy things to lift and move, maybe a machine of some kind.  Maybe the equipment is already there?  Are you using it already?  What's getting in your way?  What do you see while you're deciding whether to exercise, while you're exercising?  Is it a pile of laundry to sort or some other work to do?  Should you go somewhere else or should the laundry go somewhere else?  Are you energized and renewed from being at home, or from leaving it?  Is it a lot of trouble to leave, or a lot of fun?  Is your home a private place, a refuge, a place of safety, a place where you feel confident?  Or is it a place where it's difficult to do anything different?

Inside, in someone else's house.  Has your best friend got a treadmill, or a flight of stairs, a place to use your exercise tapes, or a big back yard?  A set of weights in a comfortable basement, and a teakettle upstairs whistling your reward when you're done?  Somewhere homey and friendly, private and safe, but... where the piles of laundry and dishes are not calling out to YOU?  

Inside, in a public place.  A mall in the early-morning hours; a local community gym, a couple of bucks to use the place.  Are there open gyms in your town?  Municipal recreation centers?  Indoor parks?  Field houses?  Networks of tunnels or skywalks?   Schools or churches with gyms and classrooms for public use?  Have you checked the local parks and recreation departments?  How about community education?  Maybe even the local senior center?  All may offer free or low-cost access to public areas for exercise.  Visit the different possibilities in your community.  Consider the cost of daily use fees and parking, and figure out the cost to you per workout, per month, per year.

Inside, in a private gym.  What is there in your town?  For-profit, full service gyms?  For-profit, no-frills storefront gyms?  Does your city have a partnership with any private gyms offering low-cost passes for city residents?  How about nonprofits like the YMCA and YWCA?    Places to get to know the staff, to take classes, to meet other people?  Or a place to go by yourself, shutting out the world with headphones or with swim cap and goggles.   Is this a place to find a new entry ritual, changing from one uniform, one persona, to another?  Is it a place with good hot showers and friendly staff in the child care?  Does it cost too much?  Run the numbers:  Might you qualify for low-income discounts, or for reimbursement to your health insurance company?  Can you pay for daily use or month-to-month, using a gym only part of the year?  Are classes offered to non-members for a fee, and can you use the child care if you sign up?  Conversely, can nonmembers use the facility while their children are in a paid class?  Most of these offer a free tour or guest pass for prospective members.  Even if you think you can't afford it, consider paying visits to the possible sites.  See what sort of scenarios you can construct, and how much they cost:  per workout, per month, per year.

What places could you go?  Visit them all, and see what ideas they spark.