Miss a Workout?

I get asked the question, “What do I do if I miss a workout?” constantly. My best, most professional advice is…Dont miss a workout! How is that for your answer??? You will probably end up gaining every pound you have lost back and then some. You will most likely develop some sort of illness related to obesity as well. Not to mention, you can say goodbye to all personal relationships since people will be embarrassed to be seen with someone who missed a workout…right?

Okay so MAYBE those things wont actually happen, but those thoughts surely go bouncing around the old noggin like Flubber in a science lab, creating all kinds of chaos. You can drive yourself crazy convincing yourself that you have altogether failed and your health is doomed because you missed a workout, but is that really the case? First lets take a step back, get out of our heads about it, and look at what the reality is if you happen to miss a workout.

 

What Is The Consequence? – Miss a Workout?

There is something that you first need to understand about health and fitness. Its a jouney…not a destination. You will miss a workout here and there and its usually your own fault (we will get into that later), but there will be circumstances that are beyond your control that are going to prevent you from getting in that daily dose of sweaty goodness. IT WILL HAPPEN! But healthiness and a fit body are achieved through many daily, positive choices with diet and activity. My P90X/Asylum Results were not instant. It took 210 days to get to that point, and dont think for a second that I was Mr. Patience. It was frustrating waiting for those results, but I knew that each and every decision I made, every single day/hour/minute was supporting my goal and bringing me one small step closer.

The same principle applies when you miss a workout. Obesity isnt achieved overnight. Obesity is achieved through many daily, negative choices with diet and activity. The accumulation of those choices are what help people arrive to a Mr and Mrs Fatty Cakes. So if you are committed whole heatedly to getting healthy and getting the body that you want, then you need not get bogged down by a missed workout. I dont recommend missing a workout if you want optimal results, but its not the end of the world. It will set you back a bit, but you also should not kill yourself trying to “make up for it”. Continue on the path of positive daily choices that support your goal and you will get there. This isnt a race and last time I read “slow and steady wins the race” every single time. So really the consequence can be more detrimental to your thinking and level of motivation than it is to your health when you miss a workout. So again…just dont miss a workout, lol.

 

So What Do You Do If You Miss a Workout? – Miss a Workout?

When you actually do miss a day, I recommend starting back up on the workout you had scheduled for the day. Pretend as though you never even missed your workout. I really enjoy the P90X and P90X2 resistance days, so I dont like to miss those. If I missed a resistance day and my next day was a cardio day; I would replace that cardio day with the resistance training that I missed. Make sense? Good! This whole journey is about looking ahead. Everything you do is for a desired result in the future; whether that be weight loss, getting ripped, or maybe you just want to be healthy and on your feet still when you are 80. Stop the mental gymnastics and dont look back at what you “could have done” or “should have done”. Instead, focus on what you are going to do TODAY to reach your goal!

In some cases people miss a week or two due to illness or injury. “What do you do if miss that many workouts???” This happened to me every single time I tried to do P90X before I got “serious”. I would get sick and be out of commission for a week resulting in piles of discouragement and the end of another 3 week P90X journey. What I should have done instead was pick up on the week that I left off from. If you miss 3 weeks or more, I would say that you should just start back at Day-1. You will be very surprised at how refreshing it can be to start that journey again from Day-1. Its almost like the feeling you get at new year’s-like you get a do-over. Either way, stay out of your head and look toward your goal, not back at the past, and from there focus on the daily choices that will take you a single step closer to the prize!

 

Why People Miss a Workout? – Some Tough Love

What I have found is that there are three reasons that people miss a workout that are “outside” the realm of uncontrollable circumstances. First though lets define an uncontrollable circumstance. An uncontrollable circumstance is something that is an unknown, like an emergency, or illness, or injury, or your work calls you in the middle of the night to come into the office to clean up someone’s engineering mess!!! (not that I would know anything about that…) An uncontrollable circumstance IS NOT, “I had to get up earlier than normal” or “I was traveling for work” or my favorite, “I will be on vacation”. All of these fall into one of three categories.

  1. Poor Planning
  2. Laziness
  3. Lack of Motivation

Poor Planning – I am going to use a real life example from my own life where I could have come up with some pretty convincing reasons to miss my workouts. My job is very demanding, requiring that I travel once in a while. Its difficult to do a DVD workout when you are traveling right? I dont have an ipad or anything fancy to take with me. All I have are my workout DVDs with no DVD player in hotel rooms. That one is a gimme right…I can skip that workout…After all, there is no DVD player in the hotel. WRONG! I go to the hotel gym or stay in my room with my workout worksheets that I have printed off BEFORE I left on the trip and I pack my resistance bands! NO EXCUSES! If you have prior knowledge of an event that will alter your normal day to day schedule, then you need to plan for it. If you miss the workout because of something you KNEW was happening, then its your own fault and it just shows your true level of commitment. If you have to get up earlier than normal for some reason, then go to bed earlier and get your workout done earlier!!! IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN, THEN PLAN ON FAILING!

Laziness – Youve had a long day at work, you still need to make dinner, the kids are gnawing at your ankles and you still have yet to workout. I know you are exhausted, but do you really think that by skipping a workout that you are going to be doing yourself some type of favor? Exercise has been shown to  release endorphins, which are those feel good chemicals that make you sleep better, put you in a better mood, and can even reduce stress. Here is a great article called “The Effects of Exercise on the Brain”, by MK McGovern. Exercise releases endorphins which can alleviate pain, reduce stress, treat depression, and even give you more energy. So if you are feeling lazy and dont want to work out…Dont try and cure your laziness with more laziness. PRESS PLAY!

Lack of Motivation – So many people do not take advantage of the places to plug-in for motivation. I dont care if its me as your coach, your mom, sister, brother, or your neighbor. Get plugged in and start talking to people about your journey. Tell people what your goals are. When you talk about this stuff it keeps you focused. A lot of people on our team fall through the cracks because they arent plugged in, and when I ask them how things have been going, the answer usually comes with some mumbling and me asking, “what did you say?”. Get connected with your the team!!! Get on the RIPPEDCLUB facebook group, join one of our monthly challenge groups. If you have not been in one of our challenge groups yet – These groups are motivation city!!! Everyone is pumped and excited to be a part of a group with the same exact goal: get the BEST results possible! If you want to join the next challenge group, email me at coachtodd@rippedclub.net for details and we can get your spot reserved before the next group fills up. If you havent joined our Facebook group yet, you need to join us there! Request to be added by clicking here! If you miss a workout because you arent motivated enough, there is only one person to blame…

I hope you guys have a better understanding of what to do when you “miss a workout”. If you have any questions, as your coach, I am always available to direct you on the right path. So dont hesitate to reach out to me. Your success is my primary goal! If you havent made me your coach yet, CLICK HERE to make me your FREE Team Beachbody coach and become part of the phenomenon that is RIPPEDCLUB!

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