One of my main goals recently has been to never skip more than one day in a row without doing some sort of exercise. Unfortunately, life sometimes gets in the way, and I’m not always able to achieve that.
With four kids, a full time job, and a side business, I sometimes have to throw up my hands and slack off on consecutive days. The good news is that I’ve found a workaround of sorts that allows me to do this without getting too down on myself.
Whenever I slack off more than I should, I try to double up soon thereafter. This typically means hitting the elliptical in the morning and then adding in a rowing session in the evening.
Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not a fitness-obsessed lunatic, and I’m also not suggesting that you should make a habit of squeezing multiple days worth of workouts into one. It’s just that exercising makes me feel good, and not giving myself an out helps keep me on track. So…
If I know in the back of my mind that I’ll be making up for any missed workouts, I’m less likely to slack off in the first place. And by making up for lost time, I also keep myself (mentally and physically) on a roll.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I think keeping on a roll is the way to go. I find if I stop then restarting is a mammoth task.
Not to discourage you in any way, but what you are doing sounds dangerous and can lead to injury. Splitting your workouts to morning and evening will probably keep you healthy (in fact, I work out multiple times per day quite regularly as a training strategy) but trying to fit in workouts that you miss is likely to lead to over training and injury. Just be careful with it.
Blaine: I appreciate your concern, but I’m not talking about doing anything overly strenuous. My typical cardio workouts right now are 30 minutes on the elliptical or 30 minutes (give or take) rowing. In fact, this is the sort of stuff that I might otherwise do in a single day if time wasn’t an issue. So… If/when I double up, it’s not like I’m really pushing my limits.
Take today, for example… I did 30 minutes on the elliptical this morning, pushups around mid-day at work, and then rowed 30 minutes this evening. I had planned on doing the elliptical last night, but time got away from me and it just didn’t happen.
You’re point is well taken, though. Don’t worry, I’m using my head.
From what you’d said I wasn’t really that worried about your regimen specifically; it seemed safe enough.
I just wanted to point out the fallacy in your way of thinking to (a) prevent yourself from getting injured in the future as you move up to more strenuous workouts, and to (b) make sure that anybody reading this was aware of the risks and lack of rewards for doubling up after missing workouts.
As somebody who has run competitively for 20 years and who is coaching novice runners, it’s something I’ve seen plenty of times and it often leads to taking a lot of time off.
Im with both you and blaine.
for me days off make me WANNA GET BACK AT IT!
but when I was a trainer I saw how clients needed to do something EVERY DAY (even a slow 40 minute stroll) so that they didnt get off track.
such a personal thing—just always listen to your body.