The Twenty Minute Day

It Depends

At the dog park my dog is a fierce runner. He wants to play chase with every dog he sees. On a walk with me, he wants to take his time and smell everything we pass. They are quite the opposite in experience.

So how have I started to get more out of his walks. I have discovered a local park that has gym equipment in it. Well really they are bars for kids to climb on but when I walk the dog in the evening there aren’t any kids around so it is like an empty gym.

There are bars to do chin-ups from, bars for standing push ups and benches to do steps on among other things.

I don’t use them for long. Right now I do a handful of standing push ups, work towards my first chin-up and fit in as many bench steps as possible before the dog get bored. I am training both myself and my dog to include it in the walk.

The more I walk by this empty park, the better my strength is becoming. I also find that adding these exercises to the dog walking experience makes it something for me. Not just for the dog.

I have been able to meet two needs without adding in any additional time blocks.

See how you can alter your dog walk to meet both your needs. Try adding in ankle weights if you want to keep it to just a walk. Or bring a disk or ball to throw around and build your movement around it. Don’t just stand around when you throw but jog or walk around to make it more interactive. Anything that helps get that heart rate up or your muscle groups engaged. It might not qualify as an official work-out but it definitely makes me feel like I have accomplished a little bit more in my day.