Fun Workout Session After a Trying Day

I had a trying day. The students I work with struggle to trust adults , and at the moment they find me untrustworthy. It makes sense. They don't know me. I came into the school in the middle of September. They think I'm replacing their current teacher, which isn't true. (The current goal is to co-teach successfully.)

The situation really bums me out, for lack of a better phrase, because I feel like the effort I've put into being an effective and trustworthy teacher for the past three years is of no use. I feel like a student-teacher starting all over again. It's incredibly uncomfortable.

However, I know I'm in a fantastic school and the experience is irreplaceable. I know I'm becoming a better teacher and learning a lot of new skills and strategies. Things will get better, eventually. I'm sticking my Autumn Resolutions I posted about earlier....I'm going to smile and be more patient and keep learning.

But I was still bummed out when I got home this afternoon. It was also really hot outside (where did the half-decent weather go?) so I was not in the mood to workout. Skipping today's workout would mean skipping two days in a row, which I generally try to avoid, so I came up with a creative(ish) solution. I managed to throw a few oddball things together and create a workout session that was mostly just plain goofy, but it had two challenging elements as well.

It's about time that I do another round of The Hundred Fitness Challenge I blogged about a few weeks ago. Today, I did a set of 100 push ups hoping to improve my completion time. But I didn't want to dive right in without getting warmed up....so I did three "Shake It Off" Zumba routines. Yes, three. Like I said, I was bummed out and this song made me feel ten times better!

Here are the warm ups I completed: (the third one is pretty awesome)

I looked absolutely ridiculous, but that's why I used youtube videos in the privacy of my own apartment :)

Next, I completed 100 push ups. The time to beat was 4:43, and this time around I completed them in 4:28! Baby steps! I can get the first 50 out in no time. The second 25 take about a minute to complete. The last 25 take forever! I'm hoping that they become more evenly timed as I improve.

I cooled down from the 100 push ups with - yes - another dance video. I really wanted to get out of my funk. I opted out of a fourth T.Swift  video (there are SO many Shake It Off Zumba routines!) and instead went for Boom Boom Pow:

NEXT I looked for a quick squat workout video that went with a specific song. I was really feeling the "top hits" kind of music this afternoon :) I found this video to "Scream and Shout" and my quads were burning when I was done!

And I wish I could tell you I was done at this point, but I looked up a few more "dance workout" videos to cool down.

I felt pretty silly, but I had a blast! My arms and legs are tired from push ups and squats, and I burned a few extra calories dancing like a fool, so it certainly wasn't a waste of time :) I'm generally not a fan of Zumba. Honestly, I think it isn't a great fitness endeavor...it's not an efficient way to spend an hour at the gym. BUT when you're having a bad day and you just want to move forward and put yourself in a better mood, dancing along with these youtube videos (and throwing in some push ups and squats in between) might be just the thing to turn your day around :)

I wanted to keep up my cheery mood, so I put on Disney Pandora and jammed out to Tarzan, Lion King, Mulan, and Aladdin music while I cooked dinner. 

So my day ended on a positive note. Tomorrow I'll keep working on those Autumn Resolutions and hopefully have a better work day!

Question: What do you do to turn your day around?

Good night!