Friday Tri: When You Hate Your Workouts

So a lot of people ask me how I keep up the enthusiasm for working out day after day, week after week, year after year. The answer to this is that I don't. At the end of every season, I spend several weeks wondering if I am finished. I am not sure I ever want to go back to racing. I am just SO TIRED! I do a few workouts and I really, really hate them. Sometimes I *gasp* skip workouts entirely.

I actually think this is an important and necessary part of the process. If you hate working out, that doesn't mean you are bad. It doesn't mean that you are always going to hate working out. It also doesn't mean that you should just give up, that you aren't like those crazy people who enjoy going to the gym, and this isn't for you.

Mostly, if you are hating your workout, you are hating it because you are either a) bored or b) tired. Or possibly a combination of both of those. No, really, those are pretty much the only two choices I have seen.

If you are bored, you need to figure out how to get un-bored. My mother used to tell me that only I could choose to be bored. No matter what I was doing, it was my job to figure out what was interesting, and I couldn't blame anyone else for being bored. I will try not to be as judgmental here, but my mother is mostly right. If you're bored with your workout, think about what you need to do to fix it. Do you need to find a class? A trainer? A different gym? Do you need to find a friend to train with? Do you need new workout equipment? Do you need to read a book about training to get re-invigorated? Do you need to get a new flavor of Gatorade? Do you need to set up a system of rewards for goals you achieve?

Then do it.

If you are tired, you need to give yourself some time. I am not saying you give up completely. I don't think that's the answer. A lot of people who are starting out are going to be tired pretty much all the time. Quitting isn't the answer. But first of all, give yourself a break. You deserve to be tired. You may need to send around a facebook post reminding people that you are tired all the time now. You may need to sit down more often, to use the stairs less. You may feel like you deserve to use the handicapped parking (though of course you won't, right?). You will probably watch more television in the evenings.

If you are tired all the time, you are also going to be tempted to eat easy, calorie-dense food that may not be super healthy. A lot of people who are working out for the first time are also trying to lose an insane amount of weight at the same time (a la The Biggest Loser). I actually don't think this is a great idea. I think it's really hard to get into shape and drastically cut calories. I think you are going to end up messed up mentally. But that's just me. I may be wrong. I would suggest doing moderate calorie cutting and still allowing yourself to have some small “treats” as rewards for your hard work in the evenings when you are going to get the crazy munchies because your metabolism is hyped up. I think there is good scientific evidence to suggest that being moderately overweight but in shape is superior to being thin and not in shape.

However, I do know that there are people who will feel not motivated to keep getting into shape unless they see some quick results early on. I would recommend for these people that they simply choose different results markers than simply the number on the scale. You can choose instead to try to drop fat percentages and use a different scale. Or you can (and I like this the best) choose to ignore the shame of the scale for a bit and simply let your body tell you how it is improving. You'll feel tired the first week and will probably not see a lot of improvement then, since you are going to spending a lot of metabolic energy just recovering. But after that, you should start to see yourself be able to go longer, or go faster—not both at once. Give yourself lots of positive feedback and ask others around you to do it, too. Post your workouts and let the praise flow in. Don't just give up because you are tired. Do something to stop being tired. Ultimately, that is the real point of exercise, that you are going to be less tired most of the time, doing your regular life stuff. But it's going to take a while to get there. Be patient. It will happen.