How to assess your workout readiness, and how to know what workout is good for you today?
In today's video, I'm going to teach you a super simple way to understand what kind of workout is good for you today, and what your body is ready for.
The key to healthy exercise is listening to your body's feedback and not overdoing it when it needs rest. But it also means using the great energy days and doing a little harder or more intense workout, if you should want that!
Watch the video below to find out the specific steps that help you realize what workout is best for you. You can also find the description below
Here's how to assess your workout readiness:
Use the traffic light metaphor to assess whether or not you're ready to work out today, and if you are, how you should move.
Green Workout Days
These are the days when you feel really good. You slept at least 7, or even better, 8 hours, and you feel rested. You have been eating well and enough calories. Your stress level is moderate.
On Green Workout Days, you can do a more intense, or longer workout, if you'd like to.
Yellow Workout Days
You slept at least 7 hours, but you were restless or still felt a little bit tired when you woke up. Maybe you didn't have time to eat enough throughout the day, but you still had some snacks and other foods so that you got your calories in (remember, if you had Hypothalamic Amenorrhea, you don't want to cut calories and start working out at the same time). You have some stress in your life, but nothing major.
You can move your body and do a simple workout, but skip anything too intense. You can do yoga, walk, stretch, or modify your workout. Maybe do half of the workout you had planned for that day, or less reps or rounds.
Red Workout Days
You're tired. Your sleep was bad. You slept less than 7 hours or you woke up constantly. Maybe you're sick. Perhaps you had a really stressful day at work or home. You haven't eaten enough. You're just exhausted!
Not all the things above need to happen to have a red workout day. One can be enough. Be really honest with yourself. Are you actually ready to work out, or is it better to rest today?
On red days, skip your workout. Sure, you can go on a walk to get some fresh air, but don't turn it into a workout or try to hit tens of thousands of steps. Do what feels really right for you right now. Maybe it's taking a nap, eating nutritious food, journaling, asking someone else to put away the laundry or simply leaving it on the floor… Nothing will happen!
Your workout can wait. No shame or guilt for skipping it! You're doing what's best for your body, and you should never feel guilty for that. Besides, you get so much more out of your next workout that you do when you're actually rested.
I hope this helps!
Do you need help figuring out how to work out, so that you stay healthy, gain strong, increase muscle mass, and stay healthy at the same time? I'm happy to help you with it – get in touch here to ask about personal coaching.
If you had Hypothalamic Amenorrhea and recovered from it recently, this is the program I recommend.
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