Beating a Workout Slump: Ways to Find Your Fitness Joy Again

You may be passionate about health and fitness, but even the most dedicated fall victim to a workout slump from time to time. Perhaps you lose your motivation to work out for a few days or you don’t find joy in your fitness like you did earlier in the month. Whatever the feeling, a fitness slump generally lasts for a short period and just makes you feel off, but you can do something about it.

You can take to action overcome workout slumps and maybe even avoid them in the future. So don’t get down if you suddenly realize you haven’t been as dedicated as usual. Even with the most sophisticated and engaging workout equipment, like a Pilates reformer, you may find yourself sliding into a slump. Workout slumps pose a mental challenge, not a physical failure, and we give you a variety of ways to refresh your mindset and give your workout routine a reboot so you can find your fitness joy again.

Ways to Dig Out of a Fitness Slump 

You may find slumps annoying because you know you need to work out, you know you enjoy working out, and you see your Pilates reformer sitting there just begging for you to work out, but you just aren’t feeling it. You’re not alone. Even competitive athletes hit a slump from time to time. So if you find yourself dipping into the workout doldrums, give these ideas a try:

• Let go of the guilt. When you’re used to staying fit, feeling out of sorts when it comes to working out could leave you feeling guilty. You know should work out, and for some people, the guilt of knowing what to do and not doing it makes them spiral even further. So kick that guilt to curb right away and remember that your feelings don’t mean you’ve failed. Acknowledge what you’re feeling and move on to the other tips to get your fitness moving forward again.
• Reframe your reasons for working out. Take an honest look at how you feel. It can be easy to lack motivation if you’re working out to please someone else and not yourself or because you’re judging yourself by someone else’s standards. So examine your reasons and reframe them to fit your needs. Fitness should be part of your daily life, but you should also consider part of your self-care routine. When you use quality Pilates equipment, like the Frame Fitness reformer, you can rest assured that you’re supporting your health—both mentally and physically. Not only can you get a challenging, all-around physical workout but also you can unplug from the world and immerse your mind fully into a challenging mental workout that leaves you refreshed and energized.
• Create mental mini-challenges. Getting started in a workout is half the battle when you’re suffering from a slump. So once you’re in, create mini-challenges throughout the workout to keep you motivated. Perhaps you commit to going hard in your cardio routine for at least five minutes. Maybe, during a run, you challenge yourself to hit a physical landmark in a certain amount of time. In the gym, you dare to push past your “normal” rep number for just one set. These mini-challenges may be all you need to get out of the slump for that day. Continue changing up the challenges until you feel back on track. If you find the mental challenges aren’t working, check to be sure you’re engaging your mind in your workout. If you struggle with being mentally present, try working out on a Pilates reformer from Frame Fitness. Pilates challenges you to engage your mind through the movements to focus on precision, breathing, and activating your core. Working out on a reformer may be all you need to get back in the groove.
• Take a break. Evaluate whether you’re working out too much. If so, your problem could be that you’re not getting adequate rest. Try dialing it back for a few days to see how you feel. If the amount of time you’re working out doesn’t seem to be a problem, try taking a break from your routine instead. Try something completely different—maybe even something you’ve been too timid to try. When you stream workouts to your Frame Fitness reformer, you can select from different types of workouts, instructors, and even muscle groups. So select a workout you’ve never considered trying before and see if that helps to shake things up.
• Change the time you work out. If you’re always working out before the sun comes up, maybe working out during the day can help get you out of the slump. If you’re always working out midday, perhaps a morning workout session can give you a jumpstart. Take a week and try working out at different times of the day. Even if you’re a creature of habit, you may find that you enjoy the varied times and even find a way to make working out more flexible for your lifestyle.

Can I Avoid a Fitness Slump?

You may never avoid workout slumps altogether, but you can do your best to avoid them. Rather than respond to slumps, try these tips to steer clear of them as much as possible:

• Recognize the signs that a slump is coming. A slump represents a mental challenge, and the better you can recognize the warning signs that one is coming, the quicker you can deal with those feelings. Some signs that you might be hitting a slump would be that you recognize your level of excitement about your next workout is waning or you’re mentally disengaged and just going through the motions. With any workout, but especially with a Pilates reformer, your mind needs to be engaged constantly to get the most benefits from your workout. So if you find yourself disengaging, consider that a warning.
• Be intentional and mindful of your movements. Our minds are amazing things, and the more we can engage our minds in our physical movements, the better we feel about our workouts. When your mind is engaged, you’re thinking about the muscles you’re activating and the power you’re putting into each move. Being intentional and mindful means you understand your purpose for each movement. Your mental engagement drives your physical motion and helps to renew your motivation.
• Recognize throughout the day how your workout rewards your everyday life. When you feel the fitness slump creeping in, start reminding yourself of what your workouts do for you for each day to help motivate you to push on. Think about how energized you feel after each workout. Consider how much stronger you feel or how you didn’t ache when cleaning out the garage all day or working on a project at home. Maybe working out prevents the mental exhaustion you used to feel after work. Whatever daily benefits you get from working out, recognize them throughout the day.
• Plan ahead. Nothing helps you feel on track like planning. Don’t just carve out a time for your workout, think about what you’re going to do. Then see what you find exciting about it. Are you going to challenge yourself in a new way? Is this one of your favorite workouts? If you can’t find anything to be excited about, ditch the workout and find a new one that you do get excited about.
• Surround yourself with positive accountability. You don’t need someone calling and checking up on you, but you can find ways to give yourself accountability. You can find an online group that shares ideas and encouragement about specific types of workouts. Maybe you try a group fitness class just one time a week so that you’ll be motivated by positive peer pressure to do your personal workouts so that you can keep up with your group and their progress each week.
• Understand what impacts your mental cycle. We all have things that make us fall into mental slumps. Maybe it’s rainy days or long winters. Maybe a specific holiday leaves you feeling off. Maybe you just aren’t a morning person. Whatever it is, identify it, recognize it, and give yourself some space to deal with it when it comes up suddenly. Make a plan to deal with those feelings to help keep you on track.

If you see the signs of a workout slump coming on, work through it and allow yourself to acknowledge your feelings. Taking care of your whole self means caring for your physical and mental well-being, and fitness takes a starring role in both. So keeping ahead of the slump by properly engaging your body and mind with a healthy fitness routine, such as working out on a Pilates reformer, can be your best defense against a fitness slump.