I was in a great routine for about 7 months- weight training 3 days a week, yoga twice a week- then I went on holidays, came home & got sick. It’s now been 4 weeks since I’ve done any weight training & it feels like I have a mental block stopping me from getting back to it. How do I move that block when I don’t know what it is or why I am having it?
Whenever I am experiencing what might be called a "Block," I try to lean into my natural curiosity and interrogate the context. It's a reframe. If you were walking in the woods and ran into sheer drop-off, you wouldn't waste energy worrying about why you don't want to jump off the cliff. It's just not the thing to do, and you won't be able to force yourself to do it. Instead, you're gonna get curious about different ways to get to where you want to go, or otherwise enjoy your time hiking. Maybe there's a cool little side trail to explore.
Some questions that come up for me:
What if this thing I'm thinking I "should" do (lift weights) just isn't exciting or interesting to me right now?
What IS exciting and interesting to me?
Is there a place/space I could put myself physically that I would be open to learning from?
These questions are not meant to intellectually stump, but to drum up random sparks of further curiosity. You might suddenly notice there's a boxing gym in your area, or some other stimulating activity. Sometimes our strength routine needs to be energized by OTHER activities that fulfill our need to express and experience different parts of ourselves. I find that many people stagnate with strength training when it starts to feel overly arbitrary and unconnected to who they are and what they value.
Also, while there is much to be gained from staying devoted to one discipline longterm (lifting), there are infinite ways to approach it, and sometimes what you also need is fresh perspective, another person's enthusiasm, passion or support/witnessing. That could be group class, a coach, a club, a buddy to share the work with. The social component is huge, and should also never be underestimated.
This is very helpful. My trainers (I follow an online program with 3 trainers) all have the mentality of “fuck how you feel & do your workout” & that worked for me, until it didn’t.
I think what’s happened is my focus has shifted from shrinking my body to just feeling good. While I’ve been working on some underlying health issues workouts have taken a backseat & now I just can’t seem to make them a priority again.
But I’ve thought about what you said & I think I need to be less rigid with following the program I’m given & make it suit what I enjoy more. I need to be more flexible with my time. And I have to remember that I don’t need to be perfect.
Thanks so much for taking the time to reply so thoughtfully.
I've done a lot of different activities in my life and right now I'm doing 5x5 (slightly modified, I am not doing squats every day 🤣). I keep thinking it's too little, it's only three lifts! Add more! Do more!! But really there's something about the simplicity that's really nice. If it works, it works, you know?
5x5 can get you far! And there's a lot of value in sticking to one thing for a while without deviation - particularly in opposition to the other extreme of never sticking with anything long enough for it to work.
You may eventually find that you want some more variety, or require a different stimulus, but trust your gut and your curiosity 🙌💪
I’m just trying to readjust my workouts to my aging body, while also dealing with long-term injuries. It’s hard to progress when one is not recovering adequately, so I’m trying to figure that out too. More rest is necessary, and I know that, but I also fight that because I’ve always been a balls-to-the-wall, wanna-be athlete. Retraining the brain is infinitely harder than retraining the body.
I was in a great routine for about 7 months- weight training 3 days a week, yoga twice a week- then I went on holidays, came home & got sick. It’s now been 4 weeks since I’ve done any weight training & it feels like I have a mental block stopping me from getting back to it. How do I move that block when I don’t know what it is or why I am having it?
Whenever I am experiencing what might be called a "Block," I try to lean into my natural curiosity and interrogate the context. It's a reframe. If you were walking in the woods and ran into sheer drop-off, you wouldn't waste energy worrying about why you don't want to jump off the cliff. It's just not the thing to do, and you won't be able to force yourself to do it. Instead, you're gonna get curious about different ways to get to where you want to go, or otherwise enjoy your time hiking. Maybe there's a cool little side trail to explore.
Some questions that come up for me:
What if this thing I'm thinking I "should" do (lift weights) just isn't exciting or interesting to me right now?
What IS exciting and interesting to me?
Is there a place/space I could put myself physically that I would be open to learning from?
These questions are not meant to intellectually stump, but to drum up random sparks of further curiosity. You might suddenly notice there's a boxing gym in your area, or some other stimulating activity. Sometimes our strength routine needs to be energized by OTHER activities that fulfill our need to express and experience different parts of ourselves. I find that many people stagnate with strength training when it starts to feel overly arbitrary and unconnected to who they are and what they value.
Also, while there is much to be gained from staying devoted to one discipline longterm (lifting), there are infinite ways to approach it, and sometimes what you also need is fresh perspective, another person's enthusiasm, passion or support/witnessing. That could be group class, a coach, a club, a buddy to share the work with. The social component is huge, and should also never be underestimated.
Hope some of this is helpful!
C
This is very helpful. My trainers (I follow an online program with 3 trainers) all have the mentality of “fuck how you feel & do your workout” & that worked for me, until it didn’t.
I think what’s happened is my focus has shifted from shrinking my body to just feeling good. While I’ve been working on some underlying health issues workouts have taken a backseat & now I just can’t seem to make them a priority again.
But I’ve thought about what you said & I think I need to be less rigid with following the program I’m given & make it suit what I enjoy more. I need to be more flexible with my time. And I have to remember that I don’t need to be perfect.
Thanks so much for taking the time to reply so thoughtfully.
I've done a lot of different activities in my life and right now I'm doing 5x5 (slightly modified, I am not doing squats every day 🤣). I keep thinking it's too little, it's only three lifts! Add more! Do more!! But really there's something about the simplicity that's really nice. If it works, it works, you know?
5x5 can get you far! And there's a lot of value in sticking to one thing for a while without deviation - particularly in opposition to the other extreme of never sticking with anything long enough for it to work.
You may eventually find that you want some more variety, or require a different stimulus, but trust your gut and your curiosity 🙌💪
That convo about momentum really hits!! I feel motivated. Thank you!
Super nice & highly actionable! I dig it.
🤌⚡️🙌thx a ton for reading! Glad it landed.
I’m just trying to readjust my workouts to my aging body, while also dealing with long-term injuries. It’s hard to progress when one is not recovering adequately, so I’m trying to figure that out too. More rest is necessary, and I know that, but I also fight that because I’ve always been a balls-to-the-wall, wanna-be athlete. Retraining the brain is infinitely harder than retraining the body.