Joe Pietaro
Joe Pietaro Contributer
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- May 30, 2014
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We have all had that feeling more than every once in a while. There are days when the last thing that you feel like doing is going to the gym. Maybe you had a lousy night's sleep or celebrated a bit too much the night before. Or you're just not feeling well and maybe coming down with an illness. It's real easy to say, "Screw it; I'll blow the gym off. It's only one day." And in the grand scheme of things, that may be true and not a big deal. But there are always unforeseen situations where you simply have to skip the gym for work or personal reasons and that's just the way it is. So those 'maybe' days need to be scrutinized a bit more.
Drag your ass to the gym, even if you feel as if that workout is going to be a bad on e where you are merely going through the motions. Short of suffering an injury (which can happen at any time, anyway), even a weak workout is better than no workout. You also stay on schedule by not missing a day and therefore do not have to make a decision the next day that you are there - skip that body part, double up or push everything a day later. Somewhere, you will have a light week as opposed to your usual workload in the gym.
Another option is to use that day to try something completely new and different in the gym. Workouts can easily get mundane and boring, so if you decide to do that particular body part you're scheduled to do using all different exercises, it will not only be a much-needed change, but also hit the muscle from a new and different angle. The latter is such an important aspect of knowing your body and what you need to do to get the most out of each workout. When you engage the muscle in a completely different way than you have in the past, you will feel it right away and probably know by the end of the first set if that i a movement that you want to return to or not.
We all become creatures of habit and the gym is probably a place that tops the list. While that can be a great thing (meaning that you go often enough to have it fit that description), we get ourselves in an avoidable funk by doing the same exercises in the same order each time. So that's why having one of those 'throw away' days at the gym can be more helpful than you think. You will be doing all different exercises, so at least for one day, you will be hitting the muscles differently. Then if you end up implementing one or more of those new movements i to your regular rotation, that day paid for itself and then some.
And there are always those days when you expect to have the worst workout of your life but end up accomplishing the exact opposite. So puck yourself up by those proverbial bootstraps and get to the gym... even if you don't feel like it.
Drag your ass to the gym, even if you feel as if that workout is going to be a bad on e where you are merely going through the motions. Short of suffering an injury (which can happen at any time, anyway), even a weak workout is better than no workout. You also stay on schedule by not missing a day and therefore do not have to make a decision the next day that you are there - skip that body part, double up or push everything a day later. Somewhere, you will have a light week as opposed to your usual workload in the gym.
Another option is to use that day to try something completely new and different in the gym. Workouts can easily get mundane and boring, so if you decide to do that particular body part you're scheduled to do using all different exercises, it will not only be a much-needed change, but also hit the muscle from a new and different angle. The latter is such an important aspect of knowing your body and what you need to do to get the most out of each workout. When you engage the muscle in a completely different way than you have in the past, you will feel it right away and probably know by the end of the first set if that i a movement that you want to return to or not.
We all become creatures of habit and the gym is probably a place that tops the list. While that can be a great thing (meaning that you go often enough to have it fit that description), we get ourselves in an avoidable funk by doing the same exercises in the same order each time. So that's why having one of those 'throw away' days at the gym can be more helpful than you think. You will be doing all different exercises, so at least for one day, you will be hitting the muscles differently. Then if you end up implementing one or more of those new movements i to your regular rotation, that day paid for itself and then some.
And there are always those days when you expect to have the worst workout of your life but end up accomplishing the exact opposite. So puck yourself up by those proverbial bootstraps and get to the gym... even if you don't feel like it.
