It happens to everyone and for the majority of us it will happen more than once. Things arise in our lives and we cannot get our workout session in. Well there is no need to stress out and beat yourself up over missing a session because here are some tips for what to do when you just simply cannot squeeze your workout in to your day.
Stretch
Many factors can cause you to miss a workout day. Maybe a long work day, sore muscles or other duties of being a parent. Even though you do not have time for your full weight lifting session, trying to find a few minutes to stretch during your day off can help maximize the rest your body is receiving. Also if your typical fitness routine includes stretching and moving around a lot, this can lessen the blow of missing a day and help keep your joints and muscles from being stiff.
Mark your Calendar
If you aren’t already keeping a fitness journal, marking when you miss workout sessions can provide a few different benefits. For one, this allows you to track what may be causing you to miss workouts if things reoccur over and over again. Putting your “accidental” day off on your calendar helps create a solid timeline for when your next day off should be. Days off bring value to your fitness routine but if you start having more days off than days in the gym, something needs to be adjusted.
Eat Correctly
If a day off from lifting comes up unexpectedly it is important to stay on track with your food choices. If you get off track from both your lifting routine and meal plan on the same day, it can cause you to feel less motivated and lower energy levels. Making sure to find a healthy meal on your particular plan will also help shield you from beating yourself up about missing the weights because you still accomplished some of your overall fitness goal.
A day off from lifting is not the end of the world and in some cases be very beneficial. But in order to keep making strides in muscle mass and strength gain, we cannot allow one day off to turn into multiple days off. Remember you cannot gain muscle without working your muscles so do not stress yourself out and get back to lifting as quickly as you can.
