Days Off

Updated: December 10, 2021 Reading Time: 1 minutes stage: complete

Days off are OK.

Don't believe the advice that you must never miss a day. We're not tireless and soulless machines.

Healthy habits are a long-term project. Errors are expected. Striving for perfection will only lead to frustration.

So, unless you're training for a specific goal that requires the extra effort—like a marathon or an ultra—it's OK to take time off and recharge.

This doesn’t mean that you get to slack off and be a couch potato for a full day. That's a recipe for failure. Your mind will correlate a day off with comfort and will try to trick you into repeating that more often than you should.

My off days are normally Saturdays, like today. Instead of doing a full workout, I settle for a short bodyweight session and long walks if it's sunny outside. I may even indulge myself in eating something sugary or carb-loaded like a pizza.

But never I allow myself to have 2 off days in a row.

As James Clears says, "One mistake is just an outlier. Two mistakes is the beginning of a pattern".

So go on and enjoy your Saturday but come Sunday don't make excuses. Get up and run.