I know you’re looking for something different, because you’ve been exercising for years. Whether it was sports in high school or college, weight lifting and exercising in any and all ways has been a passion for you.
But somewhere along the lines, the joy of staying fit for sports or trying to pick up the bigger dumbbells turned into something that completely consumed your life. Your thoughts were constantly pushed to the gym, leaving no room for anything else.
Fitness had become your second full time job.
Because beneath the surface of just living a healthy lifestyle, you’re thinking unhealthy thoughts disguised as motivation and slowly turning into someone you never wanted to be.
But luckily you’re here, and we’re doing things differently now!
And much as fitness is a big part of your life, it will always go hand-in-hand with diet and eating.
Check out What to Do If You’re Tired of Counting Calories for the food side of the healthy mindset change
For now, let’s dive into the new way of thinking that is going to FINALLY allow you to get back to enjoying your gym time, actually start seeing progress again and heal your fitness burnout.
Change Fitness And Workouts To Movement
The first step in healing your fitness burnout is to look at exercise and fitness as a whole differently. Instead, everything from the gym to classes to short walks outside is going to go under the word Movement.
The goal behind changing everything to movement is to allow yourself to see more options and to have fun again. Because your current definition of exercise is going to come with limits, rules and expectations of what is good and bad.
I remember that a “good” workout had to tick so many boxes for me to feel like a success that day.
It had to have the right lighting, weights, machines, dumbbells, benches, layout, music, even down to me wearing the right sports bra or it literally threw everything off and I never had a good workout.
Some other things would be if people weren’t following the “normal” rotation in the gym or if someone new was there and doing their own thing that got in my way. Even if I was super stressed and burnt out, I could be doing my normal workout, spend 2 hours in the gym and still feel like a failure because I was “off”.
I specifically remember looking at the clock one night in the gym and seeing only an hour had gone by, and I was so exhausted. But, I had to be there for 2 hours, so I found a few more things to do just to hit that time on the clock.
Now, my workouts are SO flexible, and I’ve been able to try different things too!
They’ve ranged from quick 10 minute workouts, which you can try out my favorite ones when you join my newsletter, to longer 60+ minute workouts when I have more time.
Not only has changing to movement helped me allow different workout times and variations, it’s also allowed me to feel better about not going to the gym at all.
Remember that big long list of things I’ve needed in the past to have a good workout? I’m not joking by the way, it really was that bad. But now, doing a quick workout at home has been enough when life got stressful and hectic. Doing a yoga video on YouTube or a quick workout on the boxing bag. All of this from a simple word change: Movement.
How To Adjust Your Goals According To Movement And Tracking Progress
With the change from workout to movement, you might also need to adjust some of your goals as well with that. I’m not talking about increasing your bench numbers or how far you can run, those goals will stay the same.
I’m more talking about the little goals that affect your day to day life. The ones that require you to be in the gym 6 days a week, where fasted cardio is the only cardio, or vanity metrics that don’t actually help you live a healthy life.
For example, I’m working on running 2-3 times a week, and boxing in the garage 2-3 times a week. I only “workout” 5 days a week now which is AMAZING for me to do without feeling any kind of guilt. But if it’s raining outside, I’ll swap a run for a boxing session in the garage, or move things around based on the weather and how I’m feeling.
Changing things to Movement has also allowed me to be more flexible with my routines and not needing them to be perfectly planned and follow the right rules all the time.
And if you’re wanting to add in running and/or boxing to your routines, be sure to check out my Hybrid Program, what I did over 8 weeks, what I’d recommend for you, and my exact plan if you want to follow along.
Trying new workout routines and being more flexible is one thing, but tracking your progress and being able to connect the dots is another. Because this process takes time. And the biggest thing that’s going to help you with this is taking what I call the Experimental Approach.
Because with an experiment, there is no success or failure, there’s just an outcome. And with that outcome, YOU get to decide what it is you want to do with it.
Do you want to keep it, do you want to toss it, do you want to try something new?
But ultimately it puts YOU back in control of your life. You get the final say.
The best way I recommend doing this is with my Movement Experiment journal, but it can also be done in a simple notebook. The goal is to connect the dots with the questions I recommend in the Experiment over 30 days, but you can also get a sample printout in the Burnout Recovery Experiment when you join the newsletter.
This allows you to also ask yourself different questions as you move through the experiment and start noticing different patterns.
- Is it harder to do a morning routine when you don’t get enough sleep?
- Do you skip your workout or walks outside when you’re stressed?
- Are your workouts giving you energy for the day, or are they draining you?
- Have you tried adding in more stretches in your day?
- Would standing at your desk instead of sitting help?
- Do you even drink water?
Remember That Less Equals More When Healing Fitness Burnout
Just because we’re taking a new look at fitness, doesn’t mean we’re adding more to your plate in order to work through this. Actually, if anything, the goal is to cut back on your extreme routine and rules.
I usually recommend my clients that are super consistent in the gym and never take time off, to actually stop working out for a week. They can go for walks, but no more than 10k steps if they’re tracking (which is about 4-5 miles usually).
The goal with this challenge is to not only allow a lot more rest time for your body to recover, but also allow time for you to see WHY you want to move, in what way seems fun, and also, what else do you want to do with your life?
When health and fitness was my second full time job, my life, my identity, I would tell people my favorite past-time was sitting. Because I never allowed myself to just relax, or if I did, I felt super anxious and guilty that I wasn’t doing anything or falling behind.
Taking the week off and being intentional about it, should help you see what you do and don’t like about your current workout routine. Asking yourself what you look forward to if anything when you go back. Do you want to try something else or are you happy with your current program?
Even seeing that there’s time for hobbies JUST for you. Not to better yourself, your future or your finances. But something that you can truly just enjoy because you enjoy it.
If that sounds like a weird concept for you, check out How to Start Hobbies Again as an Adult. Yeah, sometimes it is that hard.
If the thought of taking a step back or time off stresses you out though, I’d love to chat! I know it can be stressful to know what YOU should even be focusing on when you know too much. But a quick 30 minute coaching call with me will answer any questions you have, give you clear things to focus on, and have you leaving feeling super confident with your next steps.
Stop Punishing Yourself With Fitness
As you head into this new experimental phase with movement, it’s time for you to be honest with yourself. You don’t need to earn a better body, lose 20+ pounds and starve yourself in order to finally be able to have fun with fitness.
Punishing yourself for not being perfect is never going to work.
Once you allow yourself grace, learn to be ok with flexibility rather than rigid rules, and no longer look at motivational videos for inspiration to keep up with your breakneck pace of life, the easier health will be for you.
Remember, you KNOW what to do. You just have consumed too much information to feel confident trusting yourself to make the next right decision.
However, if you’re tired of second guessing yourself, wondering if you’re doing this right or needing to find the next best workout routine that’s going to promise you results (check out my Fitness category here if you want workout ideas), I’d love to chat!
By booking a 30 minute call with me, I’ll listen carefully, help you untangle what’s keeping you stuck, and help you leave with a plan you actually feel confident following. I’ll answer any questions you have and also help you find the few things you need to focus on rather than starting your life over again.
Because you know what to do. You actually know TOO much, and that’s what’s keeping you stuck.
So stick with the simple tracking, give it 30 days, and look over the results.
You CAN do this.
You aren’t broken.
You can still live a healthy and fit life.
But you no longer need to keep a perfect workout routine to do it.
It’s time to ditch the second full time job you created around your health and let it actually support your life rather than take it over.
Leave a Reply