Sometimes, life gets in the way of your goals – and the goal in this case being a scheduled workout on your calendar. “Life” here can be: not feeling well, schedule conflicts arise that are out of your control, and much more.
So what do you do if you miss a workout?
Well, per usual, it depends. What is the goal of your workout?
Is it a full body workout? If so, then you can make it up tomorrow if your circumstances allow. However, you must be mindful if you need or have a planned day of rest between that workout and the next one in your week (as in, back-to-back to make up for a missed one may not be your solution here).
In other cases, you may have a workout planned that is more specific – let’s say, an upper body strength workout, and if you don’t do it, then you won’t get the chance to do it until next week. In that case, I would say to go ahead and get it in tomorrow even if you have a lower body or different workout planned the day after.
For example, I am training for a marathon. Some runs are more “optional” than others, however, the way that I have specifically set up my plan, each run has a purpose: recovery, endurance, or base-building. I’ve missed one run this season due to being very tired/not feeling well. (When I commit to a race, I commit to each step of the way – meaning, every training run that takes me there. I hold myself highly accountable for doing all of the runs, barring any nagging pain or potential injury. If it hurts, I take a day off. (Thankfully, this season has gone wonderfully well and I built a slow, conservative base – another example of thinking long term and process, if you read the email from Sunday!)
You may not be training for a marathon, so the variables are different. However, a planned strategy of building muscle and then leaning down with circuit training also requires a high level of accountability. If you’re missing workouts due to getting sick or feeling unwell or tired, you likely need to reassess your recovery approach. Are you eating well? Are you eating enough? Are you sleeping enough and resting enough?
If you aren’t thinking long term and process-driven, one missed workout can be a mental hurdle that can throw you off of your routine. In the end, if you miss one, stick to your schedule and pick it back up on your next workout day, instead of trying to fit it all in in a short period of time.
Your body is your tool, and you must take care of it to ensure you can do all of the things that you need to and want to do.
Questions? Drop me a line. I’d love to help.