It’s Okay to Not Work Out Right Now
This article is going to validate your desires to not work out right now. If instead, you want to be encouraged to train, click here and read the other version of this article. Feel free to toggle between the two articles for advice as you see fit. There is no right answer right now.
If you’ve found yourself reading this article, there is a good chance that you take exercise relatively seriously and it’s something that matters to you. If it matters to you, it’s probably for good reason. There are countless ways that strength training benefits our lives. For many people, it provides not only health benefits and the obvious increase in strength, but the act of training also provides a consistent routine, a distraction from life’s external stressors, a sense of security, and a community of like-minded people working to better themselves alongside you. That doesn’t mean it has to always be your first priority. Times are changing and we have to change with them. We can’t deny that it is a luxury to be able to take the time out of your day to exercise, and one that we reap many benefits from, but sometimes it can feel impossible and I’m here to remind you that it’s okay to feel that deeply, especially now. We’ve now been in this social distancing/lockdown/quarantine life for over a month and although I wrote most of these two articles at the beginning of all this when it felt much more overwhelming, it really has sucked everything out of me to put this out there. I want to preface this by saying I’m not a motivational speaker or a doctor or a nurse or an essential worker. I’m an artist and an athlete and these thoughts are just the ones that have helped me so I hope they help you too.
We can’t deny the change that’s happening around us.
Training is a ritual. Driving to the gym, listening to your music, changing your shoes and starting your warmup are all steps in the ritual. By going into quarantine or sheltering in place, by definition we lost our rituals. In the midst of a global pandemic, where more than a third of the world is under some sort of lockdown and nearly 10 million people have filed for unemployment in the US alone, to some of us, the idea of working out seems like a menial task right now. The days have been slipping through our fingers and time feels (read: it is) fake. Our homes are now not only our place of shelter, but they have transformed and are additionally expected to be our gyms, our offices, our children’s school, our cafe and our restaurant. Countless people are now at best, forced to adjust to working from home, or at worst have lost significant income and are trying to figure out what comes next. With social media, we see what feels like an endless flood of people cranking out home-training videos: working out on their couches, hanging from doorways, and thruster-ing their pets. Making new rituals in your living room is great and there are certainly ways to do that, but I want to remind you that even if we end up in this thing for over a year, 16 months of no training is not gonna kill you. But there are some important things to note about that:
Are you going to lose muscle? Yes.
Is your body going to change? Yes. Your body will change now, but it will also change later.
Is it still okay? YES.
For many of us, lifting is just as much for fun and our own enjoyment than it is for the health benefit. Yes, competitions are a driving force for many of us, and we are fueled by our desire to win or improve ourselves, but at this point, competitions cannot be the focus of your training. Forget the fact that many meets have already been cancelled, it’s worth recognizing for yourself that you don't necessarily need to continue training for it to be a successful ritual. It’s okay to say to yourself “I’m going to release the pressure I’ve placed on myself for this time and I will go back to doing it when this is all done.”
The reality of the situation is we’re at the end of the quad and if you’re not vetting for an international ranking, it’s okay for you to take time off. And given the postponement of the Olympics, even if you are an international lifter, I still think it’s okay for you to take some time off! I know that elite athletes on the Olympic track are those who lost the most in this, and many feel fueled by the disappointment of Tokyo’s postponement, but it’s okay if you’re not. We are in the midst of an unprecedented international crisis and that is enough of a pass for you to take a break from the pressure to be constantly physically stressing your body.
When we continuously avoid the hard things in life we can become complacent, but life is hard right now. People are dying en masse and the lives of our loved ones are at risk. 10 million people in the United States have lost their jobs. IT IS OKAY TO TAKE TIME OFF. Life is changing, and training does not have to be a mutable part of our lives that cannot adjust and change with the times. Snatch Magazine will always be a proponent for taking necessary rest in sport. It’s not worth guilt tripping yourself for not having the motivation. We may feel pressure from our coaches or our gyms, but at the end of the day, coaching is their job. Exercising is not your job. It will be far superior for your lifting career in the long run if you don’t force yourself through your desire to rest. Push through quarantine and train for what? To be burned out once this is all over?
Here’s 5 new rituals you can create while in Quarantine that AREN’T exercise
Journal about your day. You won’t be in quarantine forever and one day you’ll be really curious to know what you spent all that time doing
Try to spend a day off of social media, off TV, off the paper. Be present with yourself. You can catch up tomorrow.
Spend the day staring at the wall Meditate and practice mindfulness or mental training.
Create a skincare routine
Read all the books you said you wanted to read.
Allow yourself to mourn, and then move from there.
Grant yourself the space to be sad, to feel weighed down, to simply just be. Then, if ever in the coming days/weeks/months of this, you feel released from under the cloud of doom, move in a way that feels good and don’t worry about logging it. I for one have avoided all things I previously enjoyed (weightlifting and yoga) and have taken up running in a completely uncharacteristic moment. This happened because I let myself try different exercises until I found one that didn’t feel like a chore, and instead felt like an escape from my present reality (what we’re all seeking from our exercise regime right now). We know that things are constantly changing around us, we just have to be willing to change with it. Readjust your goals and cut yourself some slack. Do what feels good for you and for your body, and don’t feel like you need to push yourself as hard as you may have in the past. We are dealing with a large scale collective trauma, and anyone who expects you to perform at your full capacity is full of shit.
