Every so often we’ll have a client who trains with us consistently at our facility or who works with us online suddenly stop showing up for their workouts or begin to miss their weekly check-ins with us online. Now we’re not referring to our clients who occasionally miss a workout or check-in due to sleeping through their alarm, family emergency or a scheduling conflict. Life happens and sometimes shit just gets in the way. And we know that.

The clients that we’re speaking of though are the clients that were once exercising regularly and staying on track with their nutrition consistently, and then all of a sudden just stopped. Ofcourse everyone has a reason/excuse to stop exercising or following a regiment diet plan and sometimes (but rarely) are these reasons/excuses valid. No, you don’t necessarily need to work with a Personal Trainer or Coach to transform your physique and improve upon your health. However if you’re finding it difficult to remain accountable with your training in the gym, and dedicated  to your diet in the kitchen, then it most definitely can make a world of difference to the results that you’re going to achieve if you’re working with a professional with a proven track record for results.

But what happens when you’ve just lost that will and desire to get into shape? What do you do when that self motivation you once had to get up and go to the gym disappears? And how can you reclaim your passion for the iron and take back control of both your body and mind?

Relax On All Those “Needed Rest Days”

Human Beings are creatures of habit. Most of us crave routine and structure. And for many of us, when that routine changes or that structure breaks down, then all hell can break loose. It’s easy to justify skipping a workout or cheating on your diet because you’ve had a long day at work. And it’s just as simple to give yourself a break from the gym or an entire cheat day because you’ve been “good” all week on your diet. Well, firstly, as I always tell all my clients – You’re not a dog, so don’t reward yourself with food. Secondly, in my opinion you should only take a break from the gym and your diet if you feel that both your body and your mind REALLY need that break.

A common question that I get asked from people is how many rest days from the gym should a person take each week to achieve maximum results with their physique. Now the generic response from most Trainers and Coaches will be 2-3 rest days each week. However I don’t do generic and therefore the answer to that question is based on the individual who is asking it. I have some clients that train with me 3x/week. And I have others that train with me 6-7x/week. I’ve always believed in the concept of listening to your body. In my own case, I don’t even take scheduled rest days. I take a rest day when my body tells me it needs one.

So if you’re finding yourself in a fitness rut then my suggestion would be to switch up your routine. Instead of training chest on a Monday like 90% of the rest of the world does, why not try training it on a Sunday? And if you have a demanding job that takes up a great deal of your time then why not schedule at least two of your workouts for the weekends when you have more time for yourself. Just because it’s your weekend from work doesn’t necessarily mean it needs to be your weekend from exercise.

Break Bad Habits

If you’re too tired to go to the gym at the end of an 8 hour work day then my suggestion would be to get in your workout before your work day even begins. But to do this effectively you will have to wake up earlier then you currently do. And to wake up earlier then you currently do, you will need to go to sleep earlier then you currently are. This means shutting down all the noise and distractions that might keep you up past midnight during the week. If you want to make a change in your life, then you’re most likely going to have to make a change in your routine. Not a morning person? Well become one! If you know that you have a very good chance of skipping the gym at the end of the day and are tired of making excuses as to why this keeps happening, then wake your ass up an hour earlier and go hit the iron. NO EXCUSES!

If your diet is the problem, then it’s time to fix it. Yes, eating out at restaurants, food trucks, and fast food joints are easy and convenient when working with a tight schedule. But prepping all your own food on the weekend or at night when you get home from work for the next day, is even more easy and convenient. It takes less time to whip out a tupperware container from your bag that’s filled with grilled chicken breast, steamed rice and vegetables, and heat in the microwave for 2 minutes, then it takes to walk to a restaurant, order your food and then wait for your food to be served to you. So the next time you find yourself telling yourself that you don’t have the time to prep your own food, just calculate how much time and not to mention money, you will be saving just by spending a couple of hours in your own kitchen each week preparing your own meals.

Change Things Up

My third and final suggestion to climbing out of your fitness rut would be to change things up. Perhaps you have been following the perfect training program for the past few years. And maybe you have been on the the best diet plan out there as well. But chances are that if you’ve been doing the same thing for awhile without switching even just a few things up, your results have become stagnant at best. Working out should be fun. Dieting should not be painful. You should be able to live a joyful and productive lifestyle while doing both. And repeating the same actions over and over again for months to years on end, expecting a different results, is truly the definition of insanity. So if you don’t want to be known as that insane person and are tired of no longer achieving results with your physique, then STOP doing the same shit you’ve been doing and CHANGE THINGS UP!

Whether this means switching your training up from high volume to low volume for a few weeks. Incorporating more variety and different foods into your current diet plan. Or introducing some new supplements into your current supplement regime. Sometimes change is good. And when it comes to diet and training, sometimes it’s necessary to allow ourselves to refresh and reset our own programs every so often so that we can continue to produce results both physically and mentally with both our bodies and our minds.

Final Thoughts

Take some time to think about what you want to get out of your workout routine and your diet plan, and then find out what motivates you. Look at the overall picture and remember why you first got started originally. Mindlessly grinding it out at the gym can feel draining at times, but connecting to what it is that you really want out of your training and nutrition can give you a real sense of purpose.

“Mind Over Matter” may sound cheesy, but simply having a good attitude about working out can make a huge difference. It may take some time to get to the point where you enjoy your workouts, but it’s worth the effort. Trust me, exercise feels a whole lot better when you don’t hate it.

Yours in Good Health,

Nick Cosgrove
Forever Fit Performance