"Every time you skip a workout, the next workout becomes easier to skip." The opposite is also true. Every time you go to the gym, it gets easier to go to the gym. First time was terrifying, no idea what to do, feeling out of place, sore and miserable afterwards. Next time was a little easier. Now it's unthinkable not to go. It took months to get there, but it worked.
I’m a recovering alcoholic and my work coach told me that the hardest part of going for a walk is putting on your shoes When the blue moon shines I don’t do 3x5 I do 1 then 1 then 1 then then 1, five minutes later I’ve done 10 reps
Loved this. Only thing I would add is, no matter the stress level, I always feel better if I’ve done my workout. Always. Just start. Once you’re going, you’ll probably want to continue.
Shifting the workout around is a big one. Today I wasn't feeling the gym. My ankle was bugging me and I had a ton of work meetings. I worked out in the basement (even took a meeting down there). Kept the squats easy and put more focus on bench (added a drop set to RPE 9). Fun workout.
Just finished my front squat and split-squat bodybuilding workout in my home gym. After a 9 hour physical labour outside in below zero temperature. With the motivation from this video!
My first child was just born. All I have time and energy for this past month is 100 burpees a day and it’s keeping me sane. No gym no weights just my body and gravity
Your next evolution: Ironwolf. I personally turned to him after having an upper disc issue due to too many overheadpresses (volume, it was light weight) dumb of me. But moving toward pullups/pushups/air squats has me feeling a lot better getting on and off the ground with the kids.
It's final exam season for me right now and wrestling training is exhausting too. I've been keeping up the motivation with caffeine and Tom Platz squat videos
I got bored with regular gym workouts and started doing more bodyweight and Olympic barbbell lifts with lighter weight. It’s been a lot of fun and motivated me to work out more consistently, and with less emphasis on having all the equipment I used to think I needed to get a good workout.
This video couldn’t have come at a better time for me…well actually maybe two months ago would’ve been better before I broke the habit of working out😂 I had been doing powerlifting workouts since 2012, programmed workouts since 2017 and with buying a house, getting married, and new job this year, I lost all motivation and love for working out. I decided to finally stop the programmed workouts since I was in a negative cycle of missing workouts/performing poorly then shaming myself for it afterwards. It has been a HHGE relief to not hold myself to the same linear program that I was burned out from. Now I just need to build the habit of moving my body in any way that I can mentally handle! I think one can use your 4 steps in the reverse order to build the habit of getting back into the gym though!
I've actually thought about alternating between barbell exercises and specialty bar exercises like trap bar deadlift, safety squat bar and Swiss bar bench and OHP. Great video Alan
I keep a basketball in my car and find that stopping at a park for 10 or 15 minutes dribbling, shooting, and rebounding makes me want to continue the workout with strength equipment as soon as I get home. When I'm pretty tired I warm up with a 45 pound Swiss Bar Bench because it's kind to my anatomy, it's light, and I'm laying down.
I skip workouts every now and then. If i'm too tired, short on time, not making any progress then i'll just skip it and rest. Just listen to your body. Evry time iv taken some time off I always improve and feel more motivated when I go back.
Sometimes doing intensity techniques for just one set like myo-reps (match) or partials after failure I can handle mentally more than several straight sets
I saw a post on the other platform I follow you on and it talked about how this advertising company use three different fonts on a box that had numbers and two different words and it made me laugh because your title looks like it has four different fonts😂
When i am stressed hardest thing for me to do is actually going to the gym. Once i am there i have no problem executing the workout but going to the gym feels like going to the depths of hell.
Or plan it ahead and dont change anything. The plan is there to provide consistency and following a program is much easier than make good choice on the spot when shit hit the fan.
I think another tip is to at least go for a walk on the treadmill if you don’t feel like doing pushups. By the time you’re at the gym you’ll want to do the workout.
This might be the first video of yours that I mostly disagree with. Changing priorities in life is a thing and sometimes skipping the gym even for a longer period might be the right thing for someone. Yes, physical activity is important, but so is mental health and if going to the gym is nothing other than a chore and adding to your stress because you need to make time for it and you feel bad when you can't, then I'd rather have someone skip it until things relax and/or motivation comes back. And if it doesn't, that's fine too, people can have other hobbies to stay physically active.
Well, he said to reevaluate your lifestyle, which is slightly different than your life, but even so, the message remains "do anything you can in order to train". And that's the bit that I disagree with. Sometimes you can't or don't want to change your life(style) and actively decide that training is just not important enough.
I really struggle with this sort of thing and something that has helped me on my absolute worst days is to have an "I am just being a POS" workout already planned and ready to go. it is mostly body weight stuff like you were saying but its planned out so i dont even have to make a decision, i even keep it on a check list on my phone. i just do what my phone says until im done just so i did something instead of nothing.
Phase 1: do one rep of light weight, get adrenaline going, look at yourself in the mirror and remember that the reason you do this is because you love horsing weight. get angry at yourself and say “i worked out harder in high school”, hit a PR.
Just stop relying on motivation. Motivation is a fleeting bitch. Just get it done; dont think about it. In 10 years i only skipped because of sickness. And if you have a really hard time to get your ass up over and over again just pick another sport tbh
I’ve got to shout out the Strong Dad Club here too, who Alan first introduced me to a couple of years ago. As a very busy and exhausted dad, the ‘something is always better than nothing’ mentality to keep momentum going through tough times has been invaluable to me. I love this vid too
This is where a program like 5/3/1 can really pay off. Only the plus set should be terribly hard, and it's only as hard as you make it. You can easily get a bare-bones workout done in 20 minutes and not feel like you deviated from the program (something I don't like doing). Good chance that you'll feel better once you get going and you'll end up doing more than you expected.
"Every time you skip a workout, the next workout becomes easier to skip [...] until you no longer skip workouts, you just don't work out period." Can confirm, unfortunately.
Great video Alan! Been enjoying your videos even more since you made the switch focusing more on bodybuilding / life. Very relatable to my current situation and goals
For such times, I always try to remember that I've spent years getting to this point, and I don't want to lose my gains. Then I aim for maintenance volume and intensity. After that point, I usually find the energy to do more.
Was in a rutt with training last year. Tried benching, rowing, squatting, even an arm day and couldn't finish the first 2 sets. Decided to do bodyweight workouts for that week and it fired me back up to hit the weights again after that's week was done.
select a moderate weight and do one set of max reps in 16-20 rep range. You may need just a single warmup set if any. It takes far less time and isn't mentally exhausting as much.
I always want to exercise and I prioritize it first thing in the morning. Sometimes I'd rather go running but if it's a lifting day, I go lift. However, I've stopped putting stress on myself about weights or reps. I just go in and try hard, doing a basic total body workout. Sure, some online gym bro may say it's suboptimal but I'm a 50 year old Dad, lifting in my garage. Nobody cares.
I'm really lucky I genuinely love training. I have been lifting for about 15 years and I have skipped the gym maybe 10 times total. I'm not hardcore or disciplined at all, I just love lifting weights🤷🏼
Personally I always wanna workout, there are sessions I dread but every time I get going I’m happy I did. I keep my training full of movements I enjoy and I’m convinced work well and I’m excited to try and pr on every lift. It’s been 2 years and my love of training hasn’t waned, one of the reasons I feel that’s the case is because my training is so varied, barbells, dumbbells, calisthenics, machine at home or the gym. Ironically the session I fear most in the week starts with deficit weighted push-ups and chin-ups but they feel awesome when I get to put a little more weight in my bag.
calisthenics is really good for busy people. Last winter i had pretty rough period where it snowed a lot and i plough snow for living and i worked 12-16 hours a day for 7 days a week and the work hours were all over the place so there were no consistent sleep schedule at all, and i had to figure out how to train, so i just did push ups, pullups or pistol squats every time i went to bathroom and when ever i had a little bit more time i went to gym and did other stuff, that way i accumulated volume all through out the day. For this winter i bought pullup and dip bar to my home so i can do here some calisthenics too if winter gets rough again
