should I schedule my workouts or go with how I feel

jenmd2015
jenmd2015 Posts: 4
edited November 15 in Fitness and Exercise
What do you find works the best? Today I'm feeling lazy and want a rest day, should I push through the lazy and have a rest day on Sunday like planned or should I take my rest day today and workout on Sunday instead?

Replies

  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
    You know your discipline level better than we do. However, IMHO, "feeling lazy" is no excuse to not work out ("feeling run down" is -- there's a world of difference).
  • sannad23
    sannad23 Posts: 10 Member
    Push through!!! You can do it!
  • xmichaelyx
    xmichaelyx Posts: 883 Member
    Make an intelligent schedule with built-in rest days and stick to it religiously.
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,744 Member
    I'd say give it a good try. You never know what will come up later in the week, so best to just get a workout in when you can.

    I'd say 90% of the time I just go and don't even think about it because I know I ALWAYS feel better afterwards.
  • jasonbruce888
    jasonbruce888 Posts: 23 Member
    Push through, not going because you CBA is not a good reason. You will regret it by the end of the day.
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
    If you’re just dealing with being lazy, then you have to look at your overall commitment to this. If you tell your best friend you’re going to pick them up at the airport, do you let lazy stop you? This commitment to yourself is even more important. So go!

    Now, if this were an injury or you’re just not properly recovering, then it is a different story.

    Your title brought up the premise of scheduling. If you have a particular goal, then you’ll have particular program work to meet that goal. For example, strength training will require you to lift on certain days and rest/recover on others. You won’t lift with the same muscle group on subsequent days, so a schedule is a good thing. And if you have the intention of hitting each muscle group a certain number of times per week, a schedule is important. So, stick with your schedule and go.

  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    Based on your reason for being lazy, then push through. Not a good enough reason. Because im in a routine I find it easier to just do it rather than waste time worrying or being annoyed becayse I havent been. the best feeling is just finishing or leaving.
  • urloved33
    urloved33 Posts: 3,323 Member
    edited March 2015
    I am a planner. I do cut myself a bit of slack every once in a while but mostly I stick to my plan.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    What if you feel lazy again Sunday...or tomorrow...or Monday...or whenever.

    Keeping a schedule works and helps you develop habits. There are often times when I just don't feel like it..but I do it anyway because it's Thursday and Thursday means a 20 mile ride at lunch and weight room in the evening...regardless of how lazy I'm feeling.

    That said, you should be scheduling enough rest to make sure you're recovering and not running yourself down. I take one or two rest days per week and I stagger the intensity of my workouts throughout the week...i.e. it's not balls to the wall all of the time...not every ride is a time trial sprint and not every trip to the weight room is to do a 1 RM, etc...
  • TemikaThompson
    TemikaThompson Posts: 222 Member
    I would still work through it unless you are in major pain. Especially if its just because you dont feel like doing it. Stick to your schedule so that it becomes routine enough where you will automatically follow it and not even have the thought of "I dont feel like" doing this today attitude. but as someone stated, you know your disciple yourself...
  • rileyes
    rileyes Posts: 1,406 Member
    edited March 2015
    Without a plan? Plan to fail. It's so easy to say "tomorrow". :)

    1. Find an activity you love--kick-boxing, Zumba, tennis...
    2. Schedule strength, endurance and flexibility training for that activity

    I love my team sports on weekends and I choose workouts during the week that will help my game.
  • Hotshoe1200
    Hotshoe1200 Posts: 46 Member
    I say schedule. If I worked out when I felt like it, I wouldn't work out at all. To me, it's something I need to do before I can do something else. I've done the skip a day because I'm lazy and it turned into a week. :-(
  • wonko221
    wonko221 Posts: 292 Member
    AllanMisner wrote: »
    If you’re just dealing with being lazy, then you have to look at your overall commitment to this. If you tell your best friend you’re going to pick them up at the airport, do you let lazy stop you? This commitment to yourself is even more important. So go!

    whoa.... thank you for this. Sometimes it takes just the right analogy to put me in the right perspective to grok a thing. This was perfect.

    Be well!
  • jenmd2015
    jenmd2015 Posts: 4
    Thanks for replies everyone!
  • mocadet95
    mocadet95 Posts: 75 Member
    I always find it easier to schedule my workout then try and fit them in my life wherever I feel. I don't like to push myself, and that's my downfall... So scheduling my workout help me keep myself accountable and since I scheduled time for myself to do the exercise 9 times out of 10 I don't skip out. But ultimately it is what you feel you can do, but if I were you I'd schedule them so that at the last minute you're not trying to do a quick workout for the week. Time slips away without us knowing sometimes :)
  • fishgutzy
    fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
    sannad23 wrote: »
    Push through!!! You can do it!

    This.
    To paraphrase Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now : I love the smell of chlorine in the morning. It smells like Victory (over the call of the pillow).
    https://youtu.be/vRp7tYWnJJs
  • ShellF415
    ShellF415 Posts: 182 Member
    I have a loose schedule in my mind for the week based on what's going on in my life. I plan to go either before or after work Monday through Friday then Saturday and Sunday mornings but I don't pre-plan rest days; I just let them happen naturally based on whatever else is happening in my schedule. But I am also strict about going, especially when I don't feel like it. I give myself two rest days a week usually but before I was in maintenance it was only one.
  • _lyndseybrooke_
    _lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
    My workouts are scheduled and I rarely stray from that schedule. Then again, I'm a freak that logged an entire 8 weeks worth of food in preparation for my cut. Yes, I know what I'll be eating several weeks in advance. If something comes up, I'm flexible about it, but I find planning keeps me on track and eases my anxiety and OCD qualities.
  • nikkib0103
    nikkib0103 Posts: 969 Member
    If I gave in to every lazy impulse I would never work out so I stick to a schedule.
  • loratliff
    loratliff Posts: 283 Member
    I schedule, but I also allow life to happen... My long run day is usually Saturday. Two Saturdays ago, I was up all night thanks to a dog we were watching AND it was pouring rain. Saturday because a rest day, Sunday became a long run day, and I think I had a much better run than if I had tried to push through on Saturday.

    If you re-arrange but don't allow the number of workouts to lapse, you'll be fine.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    Build a schedule with rest days built in, rest/recovery days are important

    If you legitimately need a rest day (generally feeling worn down or really were not able to perform in your workout yesterday) then take a rest day. If you just feel like being a bum and are using "I will count today as a rest day" for an excuse, well then you really aren't helping yourself out any.

  • farfromthetree
    farfromthetree Posts: 982 Member
    If I have been consistent, and I really don't feel like it, I take a rest day. Sometimes it does me a world of good, mentally and physically. I always try and get my 4 days/week in though.
  • 4leighbee
    4leighbee Posts: 1,275 Member
    hill8570 wrote: »
    You know your discipline level better than we do. However, IMHO, "feeling lazy" is no excuse to not work out ("feeling run down" is -- there's a world of difference).

    ^^ this. We need to listen to our bodies, but lazy doesn't cut it. Go!
  • XxQueenMxX
    XxQueenMxX Posts: 683 Member
    My gym days are Mon-Fri. I just stick to that. If for some reason I couldn't make it (and really could not make it) to the gym during a week day, I'll make up for it on Saturdays. So I'd say just stick to the schedule you have and go.
  • KingsGirl4
    KingsGirl4 Posts: 152 Member
    edited March 2015
    What worked for me was to aim for working out every single day because realistically I know I'll feel lazy some days and rest. This way I average working out more than if I scheduled my workouts.
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