The Wal-Mart Workout

Inadvertently I got a great workout at Wal-Mart today.  Let me back up.  It's been a sweaty week between the increasing temperature outside and the increasing intensity of our workouts.  I sweated through Scuplt class, Step class, karate class, and three days of workout poker with my friends.  This, combined with the usual business of work and home, found me dragging myself into Wal-Mart tonight with my husband and our friends, dreading the task as any person in their right mind ought to.

Every muscle in my body hurt, but the cat was expecting to eat when we got home and Minters don't get rolling in the morning without at least two cups of coffee in our systems, and of course it's nice to have light bulbs so off to Wal-Mart we went. 

First off: light bulbs and groceries are in polar opposite corners of your average Super Wal-Mart so of course you're going to get your walking in.  Secondly, fill your cart up with enough groceries and you get a bit of resistance going on as you push it along your shopping adventure.  And we all know that the item you need is at the top of the shelf where you'd have to have NBA skills to reach normally, so there's your stretching.

Once you've gotten your heart rate up from the cart pushing and hike from groceries to garden center and you're all limbered up from reaching for the last case of Aquafina on the shelf, you can cruise on over to the sports aisle where more available free weights and kettle bells await you than at your average gym.  No need to wait for the pair of tens - Wal-Mart's got at least five pairs right there on the shelf for your bicep curling pleasure.   No, I'm not sneaking a workout Mr. Wal-Mart greater.  I'm just testing this kettle bell here to see how it handles on the squat swings. 

Then if you're feeling real squirrelly as we were tonight, you can swing by the toy section and try your skills on the hula hoop.  We spent at least 15 minutes hulaing on the toy aisle, and believe me: you will work up a sweat.

So, no gym membership, no problem.  Super Wal-Mart's open 24 hours.  You can check off that chore list and get a good calorie burn.  And hey, don't worry about showing up in your workout clothes. Track suits are all the rage at the local Wal-Mart.