3 Ways to Escape the Funk of Skipped Workouts

If you’ve been having trouble getting out of your fitness slump, try these tiny steps that can build up to big accomplishments.

Being on a fitness journey is a positive step towards improving your health and well-being. It’s also totally normal to go through some rough patches while you’re on this path. Many people slip into a mental funk now and then, causing them to lose all motivation to exercise. If you’re reading this, we’ll hazard a guess this is happening to you. Try as you might, you can’t seem to get out of this mental funk and you’re not working out anymore.

It’s hard to find the time and energy to workout. Trust me when I say I can relate. It can weigh on your mental health, especially if exercising is an activity that boosts your mood. Fortunately, there are ways to take tiny steps and celebrate small wins that can build up to big accomplishments. With all of this in mind, we’ve got a few suggestions that can assist you with a fitness reboot.

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3 Steps Toward a Fitness Reboot

Fitness Reboot: Getting Out of a Workout Funk
Credit: Kelly Sikkema

Focus on your improvements

Most of the time, mental fatigue or these down periods stem from feeling like you haven’t made any progress. A common issue is wanting to lose weight, and it being too early to see any visual results yet. When you’re focused on a main goal, it’s hard to be in the right place mentally if you haven’t achieved it. However, you’re probably neglecting a lot of personal achievements you should be proud of. So you haven’t met your ideal fitness goal yet, who cares? Focus on where you’ve improved during your fitness journey so far.

Look at where you were at the start and where you are now. Maybe you used to manage 10 minutes on the treadmill before being out of breath. Now, you’re on there for at least 30 minutes! It shows your fitness is improving — and that’s something to celebrate. Focusing on what you have achieved will help you feel better about yourself and improve your mental headspace! 

Readjust your goals

Sometimes, you haven’t reached your main goals because they were too unrealistic to start with. In that case, a fitness reboot is in order. Adjusting your goals to more realistic concepts is bound to help you feel better. They’ll also assist with seeing improvements within your fitness focus over time.

Instead of lofty goals, set smaller steps that lead toward desired finish line. This gives a constant sense of achievement as you tick off small goals regularly. Start simple: Try the goal of going to the gym three times a week for a month. Mark the days off on a calendar for accountability to help you stay on track, and you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment at the end. 

Join a group fitness class

Joining a group fitness class might help with motivation. They’re offered by places like Fitness 19 all the time and can work wonders for your mental health. Just being around other people and feeling their encouragement can help you to enjoy exercise again. Often, we feel down on our fitness journeys because we’re alone. Having others around you with similar goals can help you feel like you’re no longer in it on your own. 

It’s okay if your workouts hit a mental slump. What’s important is that you don’t let it carry on for too long and continue to drag you down. You can get out of it! These tips are simply a start. Above all else, find what works for you to keep you moving towards your desired fitness goals.

Header: juan pablo rodriguez

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