What's Your Go To?
How to exercise when you don't want to exercise
It happens to all of us. There are some days that you don’t feel like training. Even knowing that you’ll feel better after breaking a sweat, you still can’t conjure up the willpower to get it done. Of course, there are some valid reasons for not exercising. Injury and illness can forcefully put you on the shelf. Unexpected life events can cause havoc with your schedule. Getting back on the horse after a layoff can be even more difficult if you’re forced to take time off. That’s where your ‘go to’ workout comes in.
So what does a ‘go to’ workout entail? Ideally, it should be some form of physical activity that you enjoy, and that can be done with as little friction as possible. A 15-minute drive to the gym can be a soul-sucking venture on a low-motivation day. That drive won’t be a problem if you have a routine at home you can do. Will the session at home be an ideal training session? Most likely not, but it’s better than not doing anything at all—even more reason to invest in a kettlebell if you ask me.
Today was just such a day for me. I had zero reason not to train, but I just wasn’t feeling it. That’s when I reached for my own go-to routine. I set a timer for 15 minutes and do alternating rounds of the circuits below. I simply walk down to my garage and get to work. There's no deciding what weights to use, no specialized equipment, and no driving. There’s essentially nothing stopping me from training.
5 Pull-ups 5 Dips
10 Push-ups 10 Inverted rows
15 Squats 15 Lunges
Here are some tips for making your go-to.
Pick the exercises you like best and enjoy doing.
Use as little equipment as possible and keep it simple. Use a time-based template like the one above, or choose a set number of reps for each movement and rotate through in a circuit fashion.
Blast your favorite music.
Set a goal of only going for 10 minutes; most likely, you’ll be feeling so good when the time is up that you won’t want to stop.
Bodyweight movements are your friend here, especially if you don’t have any equipment.
If you don’t have any equipment, put a kettlebell on your shopping list so you don’t have this problem in the future.
I’ve yet to encounter anyone who regrets spending time exercising; chances are you don’t either. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.
While you’re here, check out my other publication, Shiny Happy Brewing. It chronicles my journey back to brewing school with the goal of opening a craft brewery.
