I used to be really good about going to the gym. I'd go 2 or 3 times a week every week. I'd do cardio for about half an hour and then lift weights for another half an hour or so.

I was never a hardcore gym rat, but I was pretty good about going on a regular basis.

And then one day it just kind of stopped.

In my defense, I can track back to why I stopped. I have a degenerative knee issue that was slowly getting worse, to the point where I could use the elliptical machine or exercise bike for only a few minutes at a time.

Of course there was no reason that I couldn't concentrate on upper body workouts and weight lifting, but that's how it started. One morning I woke up and thought, "man, my knee really hurts today, I'm going to sleep in". And that was the beginning of the end. I broke the pattern and it's been nearly impossible to get back into it.

But this morning I had the perfect excuse to go back. I had a doctor's appointment right around the corner from my gym. So I figured here's my chance...I won't have to get up earlier than usual, and I'll be right down the road anyway.

Believe me, it was tough getting back into the swing. A human should not sweat as much as I did from a simple half hour cardio workout. But if nothing else it proved to me that I shouldn't lay off for that long again.

My gym also got some fancy new toys since I was last there. They even have machines that you can hook your iPod or iPhone up to that tracks and stores your workouts. So hey, there's more motivation, my phone knowing how out of shape I am...

So how do you get the motivation back when you may have laid off longer than you should have? Leave a comment and join in the conversation!

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