How To Finish A Workout Even When Your Body Doesn’t Want To
By admin
Happy Wednesday! Or should I say, Happy Friday for those in the states!?
The other day, Dan and I were working out hard at the gym, like we do every Sunday.
He was in charge of designing the workout which, I swear, his never fails to make my jaw drop. Especially his kettlebell workouts. Wowza.
The first exercise? 50 squats with the 35 lb kb… seriously? My legs felt like lead after the first 5 reps, I guess a result from the 8-mile run the day before.
But I pushed through and kept going. I may have taken a few more rests than normal, but I was there to prove something to myself.
By the time we got to our 3rd set of 50 kettlebell swings (see, he’s insane), I thought I was done.
I told Dan my legs were shot and I wasn’t sure if I could finish. Words that rarely come out of my mouth during a workout. I’m normally the one with the “come on, we got this” attitude.
I wasn’t looking for sympathy (that’s not one of his strong traits) so I was shocked when he suggested I grab a lighter weight.
That was all it took to say screw it! No, I don’t need a lower weight. I need to remember that a workout, no matter if I am running or lifting is 80% mental. And I would finish.
I picked my kb back up and did just that. Finishing my final rep less than a minute after Dan.
I guess I just needed a minute to re-coup and get my head on straight.
But how many time do we ALL do this?
Right when the workout gets tough, we give up and move to the next exercise.
With burning muscles, sweat dripping and veins popping out… it’s easy to stop short of the prescribed workout and just move on, right?
No, that’s the moment that your workout goes from being “good” to being “great”.
The moment when you actually have to work for each rep.
The moment where results are made.
How Do You Keep Going When Your Body Doesn’t Want To
This is of course with the assumption you’re not injured or overtrained.
–>Repeat some mantra to yourself.
I tend to get mad at myself so if there was a little recorder in my head, you would hear my mantras going something like this:
“Don’t be weak. You can do this. If you don’t do this, then you’ll be mad and disappointed. When it’s done, it’s done.”
Nope, nothing poetic, I stay raw and in the moment.
–>Tell yourself to shut the ‘you-know-what’ up.
Wait, didn’t I just say to give a pep talk? I think you’ll agree with me that we’re our own worst enemies.
Our conscious has a funny way of trying to convince us to be lazy, to give up. ANd sometimes it’s very convincing. When the mantras aren’t working and all that you have in your head are thoughts of being tired, sore, and done then tell yourself to shut up.
Turn your music on louder and keep going.
–>Stop and count to 10.
Is your goal to perform 10 reps, but you are having a hard time at rep 8?
Stop, drop (your weights), and roll. Okay, don’t roll but take a deep breath and count to 10. Then pick the weights up and finish.
But don’t stop when you only have 2 left!!
–>Do the muscle shake.
I might look silly, but I know I am not alone.
For some reason, shaking my muscles and giving them a few slaps gets me pumped. I think it’s my “get in the zone” habit. And it works.
Just shake yourself a little to loosen up and get going.
–>Grab a spot or someone who can watch you.
Are you nervous that if you try to do the whole set that you’ll fail?
If it’s possible, grab someone around to spot you. That way, you’ll have the comfort of knowing someone is there to help you if you get stuck in a hard spot.
–>Remind yourself it’s suppose to be hard.
This morning on a run, I was reminded of this. Speed work sucks, really bad. Yet, I love it. I think I love the fact that it’s hard and that even though I know the workout part will burn and my legs will feel exhausted, I look forward to the rush of “YES, we did it!” that comes at the end.
I go into each workout fully aware that the time actually working out is going to be tough, if you want results with your body, it has to be. But I anticipate the pride and excitement that comes at the end.
Suck it up and just finish.
–>Drop down in weight.
Sometimes you really have worked your muscles to exhaustion and you simply can not get one more rep completed with good form.
Does that give the green light to give up?
NO!
It means, just lower the weight and finish off that last rep or two that you have left.
Before you do this though, really question yourself: Do you REALLY need to lower the weight?
If yes, then do it! Safety is first.
–>Why would you not finish?
And finally, ask yourself that question.
Unless you’re injured or you need to get someplace, why wouldn’t you finish what you started?
Giving up stinks, and it can affect the entire day. I don’t know about you but when I don’t finish a workout, it hangs over me.
I’ll think about it and ask myself… why didn’t I just wipe the sweat off and power through? Why didn’t I just suck it up?
Random Ways To Get Through Your Workout
Here are a few of my more personal tricks to finish my workouts. Laugh all you want, but they work {for me}!
- Music. Listening to Rocky and Melissa Ethridge (I am all about her I Run song)
- Oops, no water. Not bringing a water bottle so I can take rest breaks to walk to the water fountain.
- Filming. Each workout that I film for Fit Womens Weekly is filmed in 1 take. It’s posted on the site and I know that I have to give my best performance. No long breaks allowed, that would be boring to have to watch!
- My prize. After workouts, I put together a killer shake. I see this as my prize and since it is loaded up with fresh fruit, peanut butter, and chocolate… it’s more like a dessert. I feel like I really deserve it after a tough workout. If I slacked off, I don’t really see the need of such an amazing recovery drink (what am I recovering from?).
Okay… so now it’s your turn.
How do you get that final rep in? Or that final mile run?