When You Are Not In the Mood to Workout…
It is the time to go to the gym or start your workout at home, but you don’t feel like doing it. You try to rationalise skipping your workout and finally you find something more entertaining to do instead. Usually, though, it doesn’t stop there. Many people will continue missing workouts for days. Even worse, the possibility of indulging together in other negative patterns of behavior grows. When the splurge finally ends, it feels like in a couple of days you caused as much self harm as you’d normally cause in a year. What do you do to prevent this disaster from happening?
Change your Workout
If you are healthy and able, a bad mood is not an adequate reason to skip your workout. Get it done. With a few changes. It’s important to modify the plan so that you don’t have to deal with feelings of failure and guilt later.
Accept that it’s not your best day and adjust your expectations. Agree with yourself that it will be a light and relaxed workout. You don’t expect to make any new personal records on that day. Maybe lift lighter weights, do a bodyweight workout, add a new exercise for a change. What happens often is that you start your warm-up and after 15-20 minutes you are in the zone for the perfect workout. You could even make a new personal record!
Even if your mood doesn’t change, keep going, complete the relaxed, light version of your workout as you planned it. Once you are done with it, it will feel as if you’ve climbed the highest mountain. Not because of exhaustion, but because you accomplished something big, you will feel good about yourself. And you will be ready for your next workout as if this bad day never happened.
If you are serious about your goals and you respect the hard work you’ve done so far, it’s important to do even a light workout. The reason is not that a single workout will make that enormous difference in your physique, your six-pack, or your weight.
It’s because missing your workout may have side effects. What if it is procrastination disguised as a bad mood? It becomes more likely that you will also skip your healthy meals and eat junk or overeat. The splurge can last for days, a week, or even more. It may have taken you one month of workouts and dieting to lose 2kg and the result can be reversed in a few days. It works the same if your goal is different, to get stronger or to stay active. You stop your workouts, your muscles and joints become stiff, you lose strength, and over time, you begin to lose muscle mass. You will not lose your muscle mass overnight, but over time, it can happen. If you discontinue your fitness plan, your progress will be reversed. This is a solid reason exercising and eating healthy have to become habits and part of your daily routine.
The feelings of failure can be overwhelming. It can take weeks or months to get back on track. Is it worth going back to point zero, because you are just not in the mood to exercise today?
