This cold dreary weather, along with the stressors from work, school, being sick or whatever it might be can make you feel like training is the last thing you want to do. You aren't alone, everyone will have days like this (yes even your coach will deal with this). Here are a couple of things you can do on days like this.
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Warm-up/ Mobility
There are a couple of ways you can go about this. Sometimes just starting the warm-up and getting the blood flowing can spark a good session that you weren’t expecting. After doing a warm-up and still not feeling it, go ahead do some mobility exercises and call it a day. This to will help reset the body and keep you in the right mindset on the big picture. -
Punch the Clock
I had a client come in and talk about how work just kicked their butt and it was just a rough week overall and really contemplated not coming in at all. My response was let’s just punch the clock today, get some work in and get out of here. Here are some examples of how this can work.
- Focus on the big lift of the day. Put the effort in just for the major lift of the day. The juices could start flowing and lead to the rest of the workout feeling good and go better than expected. If the juices didn’t start flowing just going through the motions and treat it as active recovery and lead to you feeling better in the future.
- Scale it back. Lower the intensity and weight focus on form. One example could be to drop the weight down and get some reps in. Another way is instead of a heavy back squat do a goblet squat or landmine squat. Find a variation that is lower intensity and just work the groove and get the form locked in.
- “Circuit workout”. This isn’t a circuit where you are trying to crush yourself or anything like that. Pick 4-6 exercises could be anything from some type of sled work, med ball throws, core, jumping, hopping, and sprints. Just give yourself ample recovery time between exercises and do 4-6 sets. You should be feeling good after this, not like you just went through the gauntlet and want to curl up in the fetal position.
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Stay home
Yes! You read that right this is an option. Spend the time you would have spent at the gym with family or friends. Catch up on your favorite TV show, read a book, or watch that movie you have wanted to see but haven’t had time for.
*DISCLAIMER if you are feeling drained for multiple days it’s time to look into sleep habit, nutrition, hydration and/or training program.
