About a year and a half ago when the wild fires hit San Diego, I took a week off from the gym and it was the worst decision I have ever made, working out wise. I had just gotten back in the gym and had been going consistently for about four months before this event happened and after I took this week break, I found a million other reasons and excuses not to go back to the gym. And that is exactly what happened, I did not get back into the gym for another three or four months and all of the solid building and base that I had worked somewhat hard to get was gone and I had to start all over again.

So for about a year and some change now, I have been avoiding taking any time off of the gym for fear that the same thing will happen again. I even went as far as working out every night of my company retreat (which was like a great relaxing vacation) because I thought that if I took the week off that I would be hesitant to get back into my routine.

Recently I was forced to take a week off of working out due to a nasty cold that I got. Even if I wanted to go to the gym I physically couldn’t, not to mention that I would potentially be hazardous to everyone in the gym. The whole week in the back of my mind I had that fear resurfacing over and over again, that I would start to find other things that I needed to do instead of the gym. But when Monday came and I returned to work I walked into the gym like it was clock work and felt like a million dollars. In fact I probably had one of the best work outs I have ever had. I had a bigger drive and refreshed muscles to do some lifting that I know I wouldn’t normally attempt. This then lead to me discovering a whole new work out regimen that has significantly been yielding results. And in my opinion, I owe it all to that short little break that I took.

Looking back on it now, I realized that back when those fires hit, I was in a completely different state of mind and living a complete different life than I am living right now. Determination and daily routines flew out the door for anything. I would push the gym off to go grab a beer or I would get hooked on a TV show and say that I would just work out the next day or I would just be too darn hung-over to do anything remotely productive the next day. But now I plan around these things and plan my routines around these things, so I don’t have to give them up. I make time to work out before I go grab that beer or I schedule all my workouts so that my rest day is on Saturday when I can be hung-over and non productive. After seeing this change I realized that just like planning my workouts I can plan breaks…be it one extra day of rest or throwing a break in between my workout day and cramming two work out sessions into one or taking four to seven days off every month or so. I have been doing this regularly and have complete control over it and it is proven to be a rejuvenating set of occurrences.

Now taking breaks is not for everyone, but if you do have the will power to do it, go for it, it will in fact make a difference in your attitude, strength and perseverance. And if you don’t have the willpower to do it, try changing your works outs so that you throw in soft days instead of breaks so it feels like a break but you keep your routine.

Lucas Hart