Those Days…

We all know those days. The days where the last thing you want to make yourself do is go to the gym. The days where all day long you’ve been pulled in one direction or another and you know that the gym will likely not be the place to make your day that much better. I think we all know those days. For some of you it’s those mornings. The morning when you wake up after having gone to bed only four hours before and the last thing you want to do is put your feet on the ground and get after it. Those mornings where everything in you aches and that snooze button is ever so tempting. We all have those days.
I think many times we forget that even the most elite of competitors have those very same days. Those days are not a phenomenon only sequestered to the aspiring athlete. Those days hit the front door of every athlete everywhere from the moment they start to take their training seriously.
The question that has to be answered is how do you respond to those days? Certainly there are days where meeting the expectations for your coach or hitting all of the requirements of your training are just not possible. That is not a good reason to avoid the gym. There is always something you can do. If your snatches that day are written at 90% and as you’re warming up you know that 90% isn’t going to happen, then that’s the day you complete the work at a lower percentage. It’s not an excuse, on that day, to put the weights up, rack the barbell, and go home.
No athlete ever made it to the top of the sport by running from training when their body begged them to. No elite level competitor became elite by listening to the voice in their head telling them to take a rest day. The one common thread that transcends all accomplished athletes is hard work regardless of the day.
We all have those days. I pray you shut that little voice up, get in your car, and remind your body and your mind who’s in control. Train anyways. Your competition has the same temptation. Maybe today is the day they decided to stay at home and you got one step ahead of them by going to the gym.
Plus, train hard, you might surprise yourself with a great day.