“Your workout is our warm-up!”
“Grip it and rip it!”
“We don’t need machines; we are machines!”
I’m sure you’ve all read or heard one of these quotes or any number of others telling you workouts have to be all out. That you should leave nothing in the tank. That the way to make progress is to put yourself in the pain cave and stay there.
Christmas and the end of the year comes with lots of fun and celebration, but it brings its own amount of stress too, for many of us—especially at this time of year—this kind of motivation is not what we need right now. Exercise is a wonderful thing with so many benefits, but we need to be mindful that it puts stress on the body.
Just because you’re used to going all in on a workout doesn’t mean that anything less doesn’t count. Doing a workout at 50 percent of what you normally would is still a deposit in your well-being bank.
Try reframing why you’re training. The end goal doesn’t have to be a 100-kg back squat or a sub-4-minute kilometre run. The goal can just be to move. To have some time to yourself. Or to have some time with someone else. Doing some exercise is still a huge positive even if it doesn’t feel like you’re going to die doing it.
If you are struggling with training or have completely given up, here are a couple of suggestions that might help.
Exercise in the morning. I’m a dad of two young boys who think getting up at 5:30 is a lie-in, so I’m fully with you if the idea of doing this sounds ludicrous, but stick with me. We’ve all got a set amount of willpower and it depletes as the day goes on. If you can get your exercise in before you start your day when your willpower is at its strongest, the chances of you doing something are much greater.
Train with someone. If you live with someone, see if they want to train with you. Training with someone means you’re accountable to someone, and if you live with them, it’s not like you can screen their calls.
There’s more than enough going on at this time of year taking its toll on you. Don’t add to it by being hard on yourself when it comes to exercise. Focus on keeping up the habit even if you sometimes need to drop the intensity.