Aliens sucking the creativity out of your soul?

Lack of spontaneity, productivity and creativity in the third week of the semester. That’s right folks, I'm practically a piece of old play-dough left on the table by some kid who has ‘peaced out’ for more fun during recess. Does that make any sense? Probably not...but the obscurity probably has left you a bit concerned about my imagination right now! I'm starting to think it's possible that aliens have infiltrated my thought process and erased any creative gene I used to have. Or at least that’s the excuse I’m going to use for my lack of creativity when it comes to keeping active.  Isn’t variety the spice of life?! Then why oh why have I been doing the same monotonous running route over and over again? I’ve been concerned about the long-term effects of aliens stealing creativity so I looked over my exercise habits to see if there were any discernable trends. What did I find?! Well, I’d absolutely been doing the same run and doing it far less frequently than when I was unscathed by aliens and doing a wide variety of activities. After thorough research, systematic reviews of randomized control trials, and APA formatting the whole way, I realized that if I wanted to minimize the effects of alien thieves I would have to switch-up my exercise routine to promote spontaneity, productivity and creativity. This meant passing on my regular running route and trying something new! Fortunately I have a friend in the health care field and she encouraged me to join her in the Athletic Centre’s field house. This didn’t just add a little spice to my outdoor routine, but was hugely educational. Visiting the field house didn’t just mean trying a new workout, running around the track indoors, (which includes getting competitive with other runners and keeping track of my timing and distances) but it also provided more creeping opportunities than a regular visit to your Facebook pages! What do I mean by that? Well when you’re running around the track you have the optimal excuse for checking out what everyone else is doing around you! Not only is it socially acceptable but everyone else is doing it and I can tell you there was a lot of action! Some highlights: a super fast girl kicking butt on the outside of the track; an uber-flexible guy working the hurdles at incredible speeds; there was someone else doing a wild number of squats every time I ran by; there were flexibility demos, people hanging off the chin-up bars like monkeys and cranking their cores, tons of spinners; there were people on other bikes, treadmills, ellipticals; folks were playing pick-up basketball in the middle of the track; fitness classes were going on. Talk about a real learning experience! Suddenly I’m not so short on ideas for what I can do with my own routine thanks to my peers in the field house! I was really impressed by the creativity by my fellow Athletic Centre members, I think next time I’m feeling bored or out of ideas I might head back for a bit more creeping. Have you participated in the field house exercise creep? I highly recommend it if you think you might be suffering from aliens stealing your creativity! If you can relate, let me know and maybe we can come up with some variety to spice up your fitness regime! Later skaters! Laura