How to Get Out of a Workout Rut

We all know the idea of falling off the wagon.

I was going to also include people that "haven't started," but we were all active kids once. Do you remember playing outside, being able to run, skip, jump and sprint without a care (or an injury) in the world? So it doesn't matter how long ago it was, you were active at some point.

I've fallen off before. Once such time frame included minimal training, large sized Firehouse subs (with a combo, of course) and a pint of ice cream…. multiple nights per week. That's about 3k calories at dinner alone. This also included a "few" games of DotA 2.

What is a rut? I had to give it a think, but it's really just a series of bad habits strung together. Then you beat yourself up for it, but you're so bogged down for the next day that you just repeat the process.

To get myself out of it, at least for training, I'd think "I'll just pick up where I left off."

Good luck with that.

No matter how good you used to be, when you take a step back you're not the same person. That and if you try to do exactly what you did before, whether it's the same weight or the same intensity or same volume, you're going to have a bad time.

So we have two ways to think about getting out of a rut:

1. Set up the habits that get you back on the right path and

2. Treating yourself like a beginner

It's all habits

Let's take a look at someone that goes to the gym consistently. Is it really about "driving to the gym and working out?" Let's take this up a level and say this person is working out at 5 in the morning. What has to happen before that happens?

This person has to have a reason to go in the first place. (Side note: I believe both the person that is going and the person that isn't going want the same thing. It's just a matter of actually doing the actions to get there.) Then they probably have a plan. Then they have to have their workout clothes ready in their gym bag and maybe a change of clothes to go to work. They know what they're going to eat before/after they workout. They set their alarm for early in the morning. They go to bed on time. Then they wake up, get ready, and drive off.

I just gave a HUGE list of things that have to happen before this person even steps foot in the gym. It's like breadcrumbs that guide you to where you want to go.

If you ever played a sport in school, you probably had days where you didn't want to go practice (but you better or you're kicked off the team). But as you go to the locker room, get the clothes on, get outside and start warming up you're in the groove again. The pre-practice ritual is what sets you up for success. Your body did the actions so that your brain finally said "ok well since I'm out here anyway I might as well stick with it."

What about on the opposite end?

You say you'll workout after work. Work happens. Will it be a good day or a bad day? Who knows. Have to pick up the kids after work? Will they be in a good mood? Who knows. But then 7pm rolls around, the time when you said you'd workout, and you don't want to. Instead you fuel up with your treats of choice, turn on your computer and you're gaming again. Then you stay up too late, destroying the possibility of working out in the morning, and the cycle repeats itself.

Both people have a series of actions, but one makes person A feel good about themselves, wanting to do it again, and one makes person B feel bad about themselves, wanting to do do it again to numb the regret. Sadly, the person B's activities never fill the hole of satisfaction.

Make it Easy…Easier…EASIER!

Our brains are survival machines. We don't go by bear caves because…we don't want to get eaten. Luckily we don't have that threat in our lives as much, but there's something a little more sinister and constant.

Let's say you want to work out. Your brain is only going to think about how hard it will be. Obviously going to a gym or arranging your living space to put yourself through some punishment is not as enticing as just sitting on the couch. Your brain just wants dopamine in the quickest way possible. Why would I try to get enjoyment of how I feel after the gym or even after 3-6 months to see progress when I could just get my fix by relaxing? (As a side note, cut the cheap entertainment and you'll be so bored you'll want to do something).

The solution?

Make it easy.

Easier than you want it to be.

Drop your ego and treat yourself like a beginner.

If someone wanted to work out and you were coaching them, would you give them the green light to start training for a marathon? No! You'd tell them to start with a walk every day. So why are you trying to do that to yourself?

The "2 Minute Workout"

In James Clear's book, Atomic Habits, he came up with something called the 2 Minute Rule. Whatever it is you want to start doing and form a habit around, just tell yourself you're going to do it for 2 minutes. That way you can ease your brain into taking action and you can rack up consistent wins each day as you prove you can at least show up.

I'm going to drill down even further.

Remember all those pre-workout steps we talked about? We're going to combine the 2 minute rule with those.

I just said "The 2 Minute Workout," but in reality, depending on how far down the hole you are, you're going to need more of a "2 Minute Setup."

When I wanted to start consistently waking up early to workout, I needed workout clothes. Duh. But guess what would happen if I waited to think about it when I woke up the next day? I had to dig through my drawers to get my clothes after I woke up in the dark like a racoon digging through trash/dinner (at least I had my phone flashlight to help). I didn't want to wake my wife up with a lamp that lights up the entire room, obviously.

So out of necessity, I started grabbing my clothes that I was going to use for my workouts the night before and putting them close by the bathroom by the garage where I workout.

One less level of friction.

I don't always nail this, but there's a list of other things I need to do as well: pre-workout shake, writing my workout down, making sure I go to bed at a decent time, etc.

That could be your 2 minute rule.

Forget the workout.

Get your clothes ready.

The setup is harder than the workout itself.

Putting it Together

So let's customize all of these steps for you.

1. Write out all the steps you have to do in order to do your workout. Clothes, plan for the next workout, what you're going to eat, where you need to go, etc. Brainstorm the best you can but this can (and probably will) change with time. Don't aim for perfection, just put it all down.

2. If there's one step along this path you're not doing (maybe the beginning like "getting the clothes ready"), that's your 2 minute thing that you'll build into a habit.

3. Get a calendar. A physical calendar somewhere so you can't hide. If you don't have one, take a piece of paper and draw one on there for the current month. It doesn't matter how few days are left in the month, just start.

4. Your goal is to do that thing (I got my clothes out for 2 minutes) as many days as possible. Once you do it, you mark off the day in the calendar. That's your only focus right now. Forget everything else. Seriously. Once you've done it, you've won the day.

5. Try not to break the streak the best you can, but if you do, don't stress. If you have the time to do it the next day, do it. Don't miss 2 days in a row if it's in your control. (If you have a vacation, go have fun). But the main goal is this: aim for getting this goal done 90% of the month. This means you're allowed to miss 3 days out of a 30 day month.

6. Repeat until habit is formed.

"This is silly. I'm not going to get jacked by getting my clothes ready!"

Duh.

But if you're not doing step 1, you can't do steps 2-10.

This isn't a "how to lay your clothes out for the gym" article.

It's about developing better habits.

So once you've gotten past the "I don't even know what to wear" hurdle, take it up a step. What's next? Do you need a workout shake? That's your new habit. Do you need to plan your next workout? How about the next few months of workouts? Do that too.

As a bonus: When it comes to the workout, if you're confused as to what to do, just do what seems like fun to you.

Ignore everyone else.

If you hear from 10 different influencers that cardio is the best thing on the planet but you despise it, don't do it! Workouts should serve you. If anything, the hardest thing for people is showing up in the first place. Then once they've been in the game for a while, they'll want to switch things up because they either want to do more or get bored with their current plan. Do the workout you like to do until you like to workout.

Thanks for reading!

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