Yesterday was Wednesday. The day I gave myself some ‘flexibility’ in my workout arrangements. Also, the day I was supposed to post on my blog. I did neither. That poor internal Army Corporal curled up and died by the end of the day. I was tired. I was grumpy. The problem I have is that I’m not sure if this was WHY I didn’t go to the gym or BECAUSE I didn’t.
Most of us think of exercise as something we do when we’re feeling motivated, energetic, or disciplined. People used to tell me how motivated I was because I exercised every day. As yesterday demonstrated, they were giving motivation far too much credit.
I had initially thought I would hit the gym at 4am, but my co-pilot mentioned something about a truck arriving early and I took that to mean he had to be there to help, so I should be in the house with the kids in case they awoke. I’d planned to go before work, when he would be back, but got derailed by the kids wanting breakfast, a Milo, and whatever other excuse I could find.
It was about this time the co-pilot may have suggested I really didn’t want to go, which may have earned a look suggesting further comments along these lines may result in assault charges. I’d planned to go at lunchtime, but was starving and needed to eat, but couldn’t go straight after eating, so thought I’d take a break at 2ish. Around 2pm I actually made it into the car and drove towards the gym. Unfortunately, I then remembered something I had to do for work, which apparently was enough for my brain to conclude we’d exercised emotionally and could go back inside. Then, I planned to finish early to get to the gym but just didn’t. So I went home, ate dinner, felt terrible and went to bed.
The brain loves an easy out. From an evolutionary perspective that makes perfect sense. For a caveman, unnecessary effort, uncertainty or inconvenience could be genuinely risky. Every time the postponement part of my brain won the negotiation and convinced the Corporal to stand down, I felt an immediate sense of relief. No rush to get ready. No workout. No inconvenience.
The problem is that relief is rewarding. Psychologists call it avoidance reinforcement. Every time we avoid or postpone something difficult, our brain learns that avoidance was a pretty good idea. By the end of the day I hadn’t made one decision to skip the gym. I’d made a dozen perfectly reasonable decisions to go later. The result? Avoidance reinforcement, decision fatigue, and eventually no workout. By bedtime the Corporal had gone AWOL and the entire chain of command had collapsed.
Motivation is heavily dependent on sleep, stress, energy levels, workload and whatever small chaos is unfolding in the background. In a life as chaotic as mine, that creates a million perfectly reasonable reasons not to get to the gym. Habits are different. Habits are automated. They don’t require a committee meeting every time you need to do something difficult.
This morning I got up when my alarm went off, dressed whilst the jug boiled and threw myself in the car before my brain could engage. I wasn’t motivated. I simply followed a routine before my brain had a chance to start negotiations.
So, in answer to my original question (it’s nice that we’ve reached the stage where I’m interviewing and answering myself), the answer appears to be “both”. I was tired enough to find a hundred excellent reasons not to go to the gym, but by not going I also missed out on the physical and psychological benefits that normally help me feel more energetic. While exercise can leave your muscles feeling tired, research shows that regular moderate activity generally improves energy levels and reduces overall fatigue. Essentially, my brain responded to feeling tired by avoiding the very thing most likely to make me feel less tired. Brilliant strategy, really.
Then to top it all off, exercise influences a whole range of brain chemicals associated with mood, reward and wellbeing, including dopamine, serotonin and endorphins.
When we exercise regularly, our brains and bodies adapt to that pattern. The bar gets raised. When we stop, we notice the absence of the boost we’ve become accustomed to. So not only was I tired enough to avoid the gym, but by avoiding the gym I also missed out on one of the things that normally helps regulate my mood. Hence the grumpy.
The remaining problem is figuring out whether exercise will help the fatigue or make it worse. How many times have people said to me, “You need to listen to your body”?
Let’s critically evaluate this advice.
I wake up. My body tells me:
“The bed is warm. Outside the bed is cold. The gym is hard. Sitting on your arse is easy. Carbohydrates bring joy. Protein makes you fart.”
On the basis of this expert advice, I shall remain in bed all day, intermittently napping and eating toast.
Fortunately, there is a slightly more evidence-based approach – move for 10 minutes, then reassess. If you feel better, it was probably just mental tiredness, maybe stress or anxiety, sitting too much or just general laziness and you should push through and do a decent workout. If you still feel terrible after 10 minutes, stop and take a rest day.
So, the lesson from all this? Don’t trust motivation. It’s flaky, unreliable and disappears the second life gets busy. Trust the routine. Trust the process. And if all else fails, get dressed and get out the door before your brain realises what’s happening.
Your internal Army Corporal will thank you for it. Mine certainly did this morning after yesterday’s complete operational failure.