But I'm Too Sleepy To Lift!

To achieve your fitness goals, you must learn to be flexible and realistic.  I had military duty part of this week, so getting to the gym in the morning was not going to happen.  However, I knew that we would be in nonstop meetings that would leave me drained by the end of the day and I wouldn't want to go to the gym then, either.  But I have goals.  I'm in competition prep.  I have a commitment to myself and to my coach.  So what's the solution?  Should I have gone to the gym anyway, or taken time to rest?  I had a decision to make.  Were my goals were more important, or should I just get rest?  What do you think I chose?

Whichever you guessed, you're half right.

I was only on duty for two days, so on the first day, I went to the gym after all the littles were in bed.  I make it a point to only work out when they're sleeping, with rare exception (I don't need any more 'mom guilt' than I already have!  So after they were all tucked snug in their beds, I took 1/2 scoop of my preworkout so I could get through the workout but still be able to sleep afterwards, and headed to the gym to get some work done.

The second night, I was totally wiped, and knew I would need to get up the next morning to return to my morning workouts.  I also knew it wasn't likely that I would work out that night AND be rested enough to do it again twelve hours later, so I opted to go to bed about two hours earlier than usual, got a great night's sleep, and killed it this morning.

Part of growing and maturing is being honest with yourself.  We all tend to lie to ourselves a lot, but if we hope to improve habits, we just can't do that.  We also have to know when to push and when to rest.  It's a fine line, and many people take it too far one way or another.  No one can tell you what's right for you, which is why you have to learn to be very honest with yourself and satisfy your NEEDS over your WANTS.