99 Times Out Of 100
99 times out of 100 if you do this (——) you will feel this (—–)
Everybody has a rough day every now and then. Right? Maybe some days you are really tired, or down, or flat out just don’t feel like going to the gym.
Well everybody has them….Yes even I do!
I’ve decided to share with you a short personal story about a “rough” day that I had a few months back.
So yesterday was a bit of a tough day….
It’s been a very long transition since moving the fitness facility to Newport Beach. I’ve put in a good solid 70-90 hrs a week for the last 3 straight months and due to circumstances, many times on 5-6 hrs of sleep per night. All the good nutrition, supplements and exercise, unfortunately, cannot combat a lack of sleep. Personally, I need a good 7-8 hrs a night (and I’ve found 8-9 is even better) to function at my best. As a result, I am a bit under the weather fighting a cold and definitely not feeling quite my normal energetic self.
When it came time for me to do yesterday’s workout….I felt terrible, my body ached, I could barely keep my eyes open and to boot I had a runny nose. Probably TMI, I know! But the point here is to let you know that I really wasn’t feeling well and had at least a dozen different excuses as to why I could have missed my workout.
But do you know what?
I know that 99 times out of 100 if I am not feeling well and I still do my workout I will feel better afterwards!
Does that mean that I went 100%?
NO.
What I did instead was backed all the weights off by 20-30% and gave myself a little extra rest in between sets. Plus I spent some extra time with the foam roller and the stick; to improve my tissue quality and get the blood flowing. Then I finished the workout with some very moderate cardio on our (really cool) tred sled and some light stretching.
And the result?
When I finished I felt significantly better!
The rule that I follow is unless your body is seriously achy with flu like symptoms, I suggest you exercise. If it’s just in your head like a cold, or sinuses or runny nose…it is probably safe to still workout. But, if your body seriously aches and hurts all over or you have some sort of a chest infection, you may want to just skip the workout all together.
There is always going to be a reason (really an excuse) as to why you can’t get your workout in today.
The next time you feel a little tired or maybe even not 100%, still workout and watch how your body responds. More than likely you will surprise yourself and immediately start feeling better. Light and moderate exercise has been proven to strengthen the immune system. Now this doesn’t mean that the next time you are feeling sick you should have a crazy “all out” training session, but a moderate day in the gym might be just what your body needs. Follow this with a warm Epsom salt bath and a good night sleep and you will wake up the next day fully refreshed and feeling better than ever.