Why Is It So Hard to Exercise These Days?
5 questions to ask yourself to see if your low motivation to workout is actually because you have been exercising too much…
Have you ever been going along in your usual routine and all of the sudden one day you realize your exercise doesn’t feel like it used to? It’s become really hard, a chore almost and it’s frustrating because you aren’t able to push through like you used to.
I love exercise. It has extreme benefits, which I think we all know, but we have to also remember it’s a stressor. If the body is stressed out from other areas like not eating enough, exercise will eventually feel too much. For me personally I started to realize it (and started to believe it), when I couldn’t get through plank work at pure barre.
Side bar: at pure barre a milestone in class is being able to hold the 90-second plank. I hit that goal, and then later in life I slowly wasn’t able to hit it anymore. It was a red flag that I ignored for longer that I would like to admit. For you, it may be something else like not being able to run as fast, not having motivation to even do a workout. Is this is you? Keep reading and ask yourself these 5 questions… and be honest…
Do I get tired after workouts?
Exercise should energize you! Sure, there are some workouts that will push you to the limit and you need to breathe afterwards, but in general you shouldn’t need an hour nap on the days you worked out.
2. Am I sore after workouts?
Some soreness is good because we break down muscle fibers during exercise, but if you can’t walk for days you’re either working out too hard or too much. We should be able to function fairly normally after exercise days.
3. Do I have low body temps?
Are you cold all the time? Do you have to workout in a sweatshirt? If your body is constantly cold even though it’s fairly warm outside, your body is probably trying to conserve energy. That means you could be expending too much energy (or not eating enough energy) and it could be in the gym.
4. Is my performance declining?
Do you feel like all of the sudden you can’t do as many push ups? You’re grabbing lighter weights or just can’t find the same energy during exercise? This is another sign the body is slowing down because it is doing too much.
5. Have I lost motivation to workout?
This one is a little trickier because motivation will ALWAYS come and go, and part of exercise is having discipline. However, if there are weeks upon weeks that you’re just DREADING the workout because you’re too tired, can’t bear the soreness or just can’t find the motivation ever… you might need to slow down.
If you answered yes to more than one question, you may need to consider revamping your workout schedule. These are the signs the body gives before it starts slowing down your metabolism, your hormones start to get out of balance and your gut starts to bloat constantly.
Still unsure if this is you? Download my free top metabolism labs to help! These labs that I order help show where the body is at and what it's trying to tell you. We want these labs to be in optimal range for your metabolism to be healthy and for you to get the most out of your workouts.
