Just as it is important to have a plan it is also important to be flexible. The holidays are going full stream right now. Being flexible with your workouts might be exactly what the doctor ordered. Here are 3 reasons for being flexible.
1. Listen to your body: Let's say it's a leg day and you "planned" to do this brutal workout but you are feeling a bit tired. Sometimes it is wise to listen to your body and take it easy. There are some ways you can make the leg workout a little easier. For example, you could do lighter weight higher reps.
2. You feel an injury or pain: The other day I was working chest and doing a bench press. I felt a twinge in my left tricep and decided to change my workout a little bit so as not to use the muscle in that way. I still worked chest I just did not do any move that created that feeling in my tricep. It is better to let an injured muscle rest so as to not worsen the injury.
3. You feel sick or have been ill: It is an old wives tale that says sweat it out. Often when we are sick we need to give our bodies rest in order to heal. If you do exercise while sick you could make it worse. Rest until you feel better. You will be much more effective.
Remember don't let excuses slip into the plan. Having said all that it is easy to let excuses slip into the plan. For example, you are feeling tired and use that as an excuse to sleep in instead of hitting the gym. Weigh the pros and cons. Use the 5 second rule, suck it up and hit the gym. You'll feel better once you do.
As I always say when I send someone their workout, here is your "proposed" workout for the day. This means it is subject to change. We are being flexible.
If you enjoyed this post you might also like: