Every once in a while, I run into a morning where I just don’t want to go to the gym. There’s nothing wrong with me, I’m not sore or fatigued, I just don’t have any gym motivation. Last week I had one of those days, and I had to reach pretty deep to get the work done.
I preface all of this to say again that this wasn’t a day where I felt physically “off”. I felt rested and felt good, physically. My brain was just in complete rebellion at the idea of going to the gym. Zero motivation. I had so many excuses: it’s too cold, I could use the time to work, an extra rest day won’t hurt anything, it’s the weekend and it’s going to be too crowded, I deserve the break – I’ve been pushing hard.
None of these excuses were wrong, per se, they just didn’t feel completely authentic to where I was, mentally. I knew there was more going on than just the need for a mental health day. I took a few minutes to look at my training plan for the day and realized what the real issue was: squats. Heavy squats, 4 sets of 10 reps of dreadful, hateful, heavy squats. My lizard brain certainly remembered what was on tap and the specter of heavy squats was defo causing the issue.
Now, I know it sounds like I hate squats, but I generally don’t. I view them in the same vein as deadlifts: tortuous, but bearable because they work so well. The mental issue I was having was less about the squats part and more about the heavy part. I broke my ankle 11 months ago and have spent the summer rebuilding strength. This workout was scheduled to be the heaviest load since the injury, and I wasn’t sure I could do it.
Identifying the actual issue was probably the most important part of getting to the gym that day. Once I understood what I was fearful about, I was able to move forward. I revised my game plan: get to the gym and warm up, then rack up 75% of the planned load. If that felt heavy, then I would simply scrub squats and move on to the rest of the workout. If everything felt heavy, then at least I made a true attempt to execute. I rest easy with failure as long as I showed up and gave what I had.
In the end, the day turned out to be a reminder that mental hurdles are just as real as physical ones. Sometimes, simply acknowledging the fear can make all the difference. I went to the gym, the 75% load felt solid, and I ended up getting through the squats and the rest of the workout without issue. The fear I’d been carrying was all fluff and no substance: the ankle is healthy and stronger than it’s ever been.
What I took away from the experience is the importance of showing up, even when your mind tries to convince you otherwise. It’s not always about the end result, but the willingness to face discomfort, to adapt, and to keep pushing; that’s where the growth comes from.
There will be days when the motivation isn’t there, but as long as you can identify the underlying reason and come up with a plan that tests whether that’s an excuse or a limitation, you can find a way to move forward. Sometimes, the act of simply showing up is the hardest part and once you do, you’ll often find that what seemed daunting is manageable. And in the process, you build not just physical strength, but mental resilience too.