This happens to me far too often. I really enjoy working out, I do, truly, but I often just don’t feel up to it. I believe this is due primarily to allergies. When my eyes are burning and I have a sinus headache, well, who feels like working out in those conditions.
But I’ve gotten rather used to working out anyway, because I seem to experience a lot of allergies and if I didn’t work out when I felt under 100%, I’d rarely work out at all.
My inner dialog yesterday was this:
“I need to do Ab Ripper X (part of Tony Horton’s P90X) followed by One-On-One Shoulders & Arms, but I know that if I start, I won’t finish, so why bother?”
This may have been a correct assessment of the situation. I have, indeed, quit in the middle of workouts because I just didn’t have it that day.
But then my dialog continued:
“Maybe if I start I won’t finish — maybe. But if I don’t start the workout at all, I am certain not to finish.”
Corny. Sure. But that’s what I really thought, so, corny or not, it is what it is. And, you know what else?
It worked.
That thought got me off my ass, got me started on the workout, and an hour and a half later (including a 15-minute break between abs and shoulders & arms) I was done, feeling great, and with a sense of accomplishment.
(I might add here that there was never any question in my mind that the 15-minute break would be anything but a break. I was fired up by that point!)
Whatever it takes, whether it’s a shot of caffeine from coffee or Red Bull, the desire to just do something that will get you away from work for a while, or even some corny thought that you may see on one of those silly motivational posters, use it to get yourself in gear for that workout you may not feel like doing. You’ll feel better for it.