It’s pretty widely acknowledged as fact that for optimum results, you should always ALWAYS go into your workout session with a plan. But what about when you just don’t wanna do legs? You simply cannot do another push up. You will DIE if someone makes you do another kettlebell swing. You can’t! You won’t!
Alright, relax. Noone is holding a gun to your head.
In my personal opinion, when it comes to workouts there’s one thing more important than a plan, and that’s flexibility. No, I don’t mean yoga-style flexibility (although lord knows I could use a little help with that), I mean the ability to change things up when circumstance or mood takes you.
Today after work I decided to visit Fitness First Platinum, and I’ll be honest with you – walking there I had no idea what I wanted to do. I knew it had to be lower body (if you’ve been following me here and on Facebook over the last couple of weeks you’ll be aware I’ve got a stitch in my shoulder that’s preventing me from any upper body work) and I knew what I DIDN’T want to do. No BOSU! No plyo box! No Bulgarian lunges! And you can keep your step ups, I’ve done enough of them in the past week to last me a lifetime.
Then my eyes landed on the treadmill. Yes! Intervals! Running has been so far down my priority list of late it’s sitting somewhere between that one Pilates class I did about eight years ago and the Stand Up Paddleboarding lesson I’ve been planning to take for months. Suddenly I was excited.
I grabbed a kettlebell, and this is what I came up with:
1km run @ 12.5km/hour
10 weighted squats | 10 squat jumps | 20 lunge jumps
1km run @ 13km/hour
10 weighted squats | 10 squat jumps | 20 lunge jumps
1km run @ 13.5km/hour
10 weighted squats | 10 squat jumps | 20 lunge jumps
1km run @ 12km/hour
10 weighted squats | 10 squat jumps | 20 lunge jumps
1km run @ 14km/hour
10 weighted squats | 10 squat jumps | 20 lunge jumps
FINISHER: Day 5 of the LGF 28-Day Abs Challenge.
Let me tell you, it was FUN. Short run intervals meant I was able to keep a half-decent pace, and the squats and lunges were enough to keep my legs heavy and ensure I had to dig deep during the runs.
So, the bottom line? Sometimes you’re just not feeling ‘the plan’. In my experience, when that feeling hits, you’re better off trying to figure out what feels right to you than soldiering on through a half-assed workout. If you’re super stressed, maybe that weights session would be best turned into a boxing session, or even a yoga class. Feeling like you could take on the world? Get over to the strength zone and show ‘em what you’re made of! Whatever you do, make it FUN and do it with a smile on your face.
Have a great weekend guys!
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