Never, ever, ever, ever pass up the opportunity to do extra cardio. Trust me. They don't come often, but when they do, pounce on them like a tabloid on Heidi Whateverhernameis (or vice verse). You will never regret it, and will almost always regret not doing it.
I get up really insanely early to work out, and sometimes by Friday I am just pooped. So when what alarm goes off at *ahem* 3:40 am, it is really easy for me to agree with that little voice in my head that promises I will just do extra cardio before Pilates at lunch and I can sleep another 30 minutes. And I have good intentions. But then someone wanders into my office, or I get sidetracked on a project, or I just plain don't make it in time, and I don't get the cardio in. Then I am left with no cardio. That sucks.
That's why I like to treat cardio like a bank account and make deposits whenever I can. There is probably no scientific basis for this behavior whatsoever, but I figure calories burned are calories burned, right? So if I have the opportunity to "bank" some calories for a rainy day, I take it. Because inevitably, when I slack on cardio Wednesday because I figure I have a long bike ride ahead of me on Saturday, it will rain on Saturday. But I will still have calories to burn, so I will be facing my elliptical. And I really don't like doing my elliptical on a Saturday when I could be cycling.
No offense to ellipticals, but they're more of a 4:00-am-watching-a-P90X-infomercial kinda thing.
So on a day like today, when I accidentally slept late and only got 45 minutes of cardio (and no weights, ACK!) I am glad that on Friday I had a random hour in the middle of my day with nothing to do and snatched that puppy up and banked it with some sprint intervals! And today at lunch, I'll replace my little withdrawl with some elliptical time. Sure, I already worked out and don't *need* to do it again, but you never know what will happen tomorrow. I might be waylayed by a surprise meeting, or my kid could be sick, or I could win the lottery and spend the day signing important papers and stuff. I need to be prepared for anything.
Be reasonable - I mean, there is only so much physical activity one body can handle in a day and you should never exercise if you are truly exhausted - and make sure you are fueling those workouts appropriately. But, be proactive. Look for opportunities to "bank" some quality cardio for a rainy day (or in my case, when the alarm doesn't go off) and then when it does rain, you can curl up with a book and enjoy it!
Good day!
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