I woke up Wednesday to find water in my basement and the smell of water. If you own a home or a business you know how distressing this site is.
We live in a renovated 70-year-old house in an old Toronto neighborhood. When we moved in, we were told that all drainage pipes were replaced. As it turns out, they weren’t. So, I had to spend most of the day yesterday in contact with plumbers trying to find a solution to a blocked drainage pipe.
Why am I telling you this? Well, I spent most of the day at home. And even though I was visibly irritated and somewhat stressed out, I found time to be productive.
In these situations, for a lot of us (me being as guilty as any), it’s really easy to throw in the towel, open a bag of potato chips, plant your ass on the couch and give up.
Instead, I picked myself up, got some work done (wrote an article, a new series of workouts, a blog post and this newsletter), and got a great workout in.
The workout that I used will be part of a TOP SECRET project I’m working on that’ll help Busy Dads get their abs.
Here’s a sneak peak of that workout (don’t worry, it’s one of many)…
1) Bodyweight warm-up (Squats, Push-Ups, Lunges, Stick-ups, Plank & side Planks)
Superset #1 (do as much work as possible in 7mins)
2a) Kettlebell Front Squat x 15
2b) Handstand Push-Ups* x 7
Superset #2 (do as much work as possible in 7 mins)
3a) Neutral Grip chin-ups
3b) 2-arm Kettlebell Swings x 25
*I just started doing hand stand push-ups…it took me a couple of weeks to get used to the blood rushing to my head, but I’m pretty happy with how I’ve progressed.
It’s been a pretty crazy week. We were at a rain plagued soccer tournament for AJ all weekend. Mikey had Roseola for a few days. And of course the plumbing situation.
Through it all, I managed. But I don’t think I would have been able to if I didn’t keep my training and nutrition in check. So much of how you react to things is dependent on what you do outside of the stresses.
I made it a point to get my workouts in and made sure that I was eating good, nutritious food and I think that helped me become “less stressed” about my surroundings.
Now, I don’t know if there’s any scientific proof behind that. All I know is that there was one less thing to worry about.
Have a productive week,
Chris Lopez
the FitAndBusyDad
P.S. The solution to the problem ends up being a HEFTY dent in my wallet to get the pipe replaced. Then, we’ll probably have to do a rip-up job in the basement to put in some new flooring….BREATHE….JUST BREATHE.
