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We have all had those days where we really are just not feeling like going to the gym. We create elaborate stories about why it is ok for us to give it a miss just this once... or twice or actually we will start gain next week when we are motivated again and the weather is a bit nicer.
Even with a decent amount of knowledge and experience, the excuses just get more complex. I once had a training partner who has superb knowledge and technical skills, create some sort of convoluted reason to take it easy by "de-loading in a loading phase..." because he wasn't feeling it that day... (if you are reading this you know who you are ;-) What does that even mean?! ;-) Well I think I know what he meant...
However, when it comes to just not feeling it when going to the gym I completely get it. As a fitness professional we are expected to look the part, practice what we preach and its not unusual for many of us to train 6 days a week for months on end. We get tired and bored too. We are meant to loooove fitness, so if we get bored what on earth are the high achieving, busy readers of this newsletter meant to do, especially when most of you train as you really just want to move and feel a bit better.
Well I have some suggestions from my own experience, and from what others have taught me.
Whatever you had planned...halve it
It was just the other day, and I had missed every serious exerciser's favorite day of the week... leg day. Now being a former athlete, my natural tendency was to beat myself up about it, and prepare to do the next session with added intensity, plus some interest... In my mind I had built up a grueling 90 minute session in my head. I felt flat, tired, had only eaten one meal so far and not slept that well. Oh, and I had been off coffee for 3 weeks at this stage, so not "pre workout" help.
In short it was going nowhere... I was already making excuses to delay the session and make up for it later that week.
Somehow I caught myself, and realized the trap I had created for myself. How on earth was I going to do that ridiculous workout with no sleep or fuel to get it done? Well, I played a small trick on myself. I in fact used my training partner's "de-loading in a loading phase" excuse and decided to do a normal session that I normally had planned and halve all of the sets (effectively halving the workout). I suddenly had a huge rush of energy, probably because of relief at that moment.
So I went to the gym, I started as normal and funnily enough managed to convince myself once a couple of sets in, to get a normal workout done (60 mins for me). I could have done only half of the sets and been ok with that, but by lowering my barrier of expectation, it seemed to take a great load off my mind and allow me to focus on lifting.
I had a great session and learnt a lot from that experience, which I am able to share with you now!
Never Break the Chain
Warren Buffet famously quoted "Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken"
Now relating this to fitness, getting to the gym takes will power (a limited resource), and when our "attentional energy" (again another limited resource), is bombarded by work, kids, family, business, market ups and downs, as well as constant emails, the gym really does fall down the pecking order in terms of priorities, especially as we tire.
One of my clients and a very good friend of mine is a stellar example of how to overcome the "not feeling it" syndrome. He is very much a man of routine and prides himself on this.
He currently runs a business with many staff members to manage, but he is the personality, life and soul of his business and all of his clients want to see him all the time. The sort of guy that should you have a problem with anything, even a blocked sink, you could ask him and he would give you a great solution to that.
He is surprisingly more of a natural introvert so having to "switch it on" to meet and greet clients is extremely exhausting for him. I am sure the many business owners reading this now probably have a half smile and know this feeling quite well. Somehow week in and week out he manages to train 4x a week without missing a session, despite regular illnesses, high work load and extremely high stress levels. Even I as a fitness professional am in awe of his consistency for training.
How does he do it? Well he actually uses the power of habit to his advantage. He doesn't rely on will power as he has already used most of that on many other fronts. He simply made the decision years ago to set an appointment, set everything up to make the gym happen and allow the habit to ingrain itself into his routine. He knows that as soon as he puts his gym kit on, that he will get to the gym, get his workout done, shower, change, go home or back to work without even thinking about it.
No matter what the weather is like, his sleep, food or how busy he is at work, he never misses a workout.
So my advice here is to focus on starting a habit and aim to string as many workouts in a row without missing one to avoid breaking the chain. Make a decision and set up a cue (shape your environment) to go to the gym, do the session without being too critical of performance, and pay attention to the reward you give yourself for completing the workout. (this is usually an endorphin rush/ feeling of virtue not a pain au chocolate with a skinny cappucino ;-).
Keep yourself accountable
When people hire a fitness professional, its more than just wanting someone count reps, tell you what to do and occasionally talk about the state of the kardhasians. (that was a joke by the way, so if your trainer does do this, fire them immediately). Although the skill set of the coach is very important, what people are really paying for is accountability. If you know you have an appointment booked at 6am on a cold February morning, you are far more likely to turn up and produce a high quality session that if you say that I'll go to the gym tomorrow morning to "work out". (80/20 as to whether you hit the snooze button, especially if you go to bed late).
Accountability is so powerful as if you know that you are letting someone down, whether it be your trainer or your workout partner, not only do you feel guilty for yourself too!
My advice here is to either hire a coach (which Is completely biased as I am one), or at least find yourself a decent training partner to go to classes/ train with. By booking a session in with yourself where someone else is involved you are far more likely to stay consistent and achieve whatever goal it you are after. Of course there will be times when others let you down, but it is far more likely you will stick at it for longer. Weight Loss programs such as "weight watchers", the Les mills group classes, running clubs or even recreational sports teams are all great testament to the power of accountability that groups bring.
Should you have had any experiences when you were not feeling like training at the gym, but went. I would love to hear what you did to make it happen?
Yours in Health
Patrick Fallis