When SHOULDN’T You Train?

At this point in my life I am pretty intuitive about my training. There are times that I just don’t want to train but do it anyway. It can be a tough decision. Maybe I’ve had a long day, I’m tired, distracted, or sore. What is it that will govern my decision to stay or go?

If I stayed at home every time I don’t WANT to train, I’d probably only train half as much as I do now. I don’t crave the discomfort or pain that a training session may put me through but MOST of the time I’m better for it on the other end. That said, I do have some rules when it comes to calling it.

I am not looking to give you excuses, but here are some valid reasons NOT to train:

You’re genuinely sick or injured and exercising could worsen your condition.

You’re experiencing extreme fatigue or exhaustion, which could compromise your safety or performance.

You have pressing responsibilities or commitments that cannot be postponed or delegated.

Your body needs rest to recover from intense training or previous workouts.

Your mental or emotional well-being would benefit more from taking a break than pushing through.

If you can (honestly) check one or more of these boxes you should consider postponing your training that day. Keep in mind that training is a BIG part of improving your fitness, health and well-being BUT it requires your body to recover and repair between training bouts. If you are under-recovered for training you will continue to fight a losing battle. You won’t feel great or perform well in your training and you will continue the trend of under-recovery that will carry over into your next training session. As a result your results will diminish. You could become unmotivated and quit all together. DON’T let it get to that.