Urban Exercise

Many urban dwellers don't get much chance to walk or jog in a real park these days. A park surrounded by lush greeneries with watering holes for our fine feathered friends is a rare find. The KLites are constantly suffocating from the rapidly dwindling number of green lungs within KL making way for development. The most convenient place for a decent exercise would be either your home or the gym. The former...well, though highly convenient but it seems to be a rather boring place to do our sit-ups and push-ups, not to mention the lack of motivation to wear proper attire when we exercise. When we exercise at home, naturally, we tend to be in our most comfortable apparel, namely the XL size t-shirt and an old pair of shorts while watching Cindy Crawford doing her sit-ups on tv. Not forgetting the need to keep ourselves motivated while being confined to the four corners of the concrete walls. Many of us who exercise at home tend to show our lazy bones after a few sessions, opting for the seat as a couch potato.

On the other hand, if you opt for the gym, well...it may burn quite a hole in your pocket depending on the kind of membership those gyms offer. A one-year membership fees could cost around RM1,400. With that amount of money, you had better be consistent in getting yourself to the gym religiously a few days every week for the next twelve months or you are as good as dumping your hard earned money into the sea. The rewards, other a well toned body, if you do turn up at the gym may be the chance to ogle at beautiful bodies (of the trainers there) or the hugh relieve realising that you are not the only one that urgently needs some immediate body sculpting repair work.

However, do you know that there is an alternative to your exercise venues other than the park, your home and the gym?

Once a month or so, I would have a 3 hour walk at a large spacious venue, ogle all I want at beautiful boys and girls and the best of all, no membership fee is required. =) I call it the 'Urban Exercise'. Last Sunday, I had one of my Urban Exercise sessions. A good 3 hours of walking. This time, I had picked a newly opened hyper-supermarket, Carrefour, for my walk. I went as soon as it was opened in the morning after a round of hearty breakfast. I walked at a consistent pace from aisle to aisle, at the same time exercising my arms by pushing a 15kg cart filled with 2 sacs of rice (10kg & 5kg each), can food, 2 dozens of toilet papers, among many other household products.

At the end of my urban exercise *ahem* (grocery shopping), I've walked 3 full hours, stopping just to put stuff into my shopping cart, carried more than 10 kgs and also completed my grocery shopping. I felt completely energised (obviously from the walk), refreshed (being away from the blistering mid-afternoon heat outside), entertained (by looking at the people around me) and happy (being surrounded by so much food!). Hahaha! BTW, the parking is free.

The other good places for the urban exercise would be the Mid Valley Megamall and Berjaya Times Square. Just covering on foot all the floor spaces in those huge shopping centres will help to tone your legs. Remember to take the stairs when possible while holding on to your shopping bags. It helps the motor coordination of your arms and legs.

Don't you agree that the Urban Exercise is so much more interesting than the usual trip to the gym? Try Urban Exercise today. Who knows, you may like it more than the gym. And, girls... “Happy (Window) Shopping!”