Sometimes life gets in the way. Whether it’s minor injuries or simply a lack of time, you might find yourself needing to go ‘off-plan’ for a workout or two. While one of the best paths to results is following a carefully structured workout programme it’s not the be all and end all. You can and most likely will need to make changes to your workout plan.
This is why we updated the app to allow you to easily jump between workout plans without losing track, and pick up where you left off.
How does it work?
As you add plans to your Home Screen they will display in a list. Here’s an example of 2 plans.
Notice the red bars below each plan name, these show you how many workouts you have completed and how many are left. On the example above there are gaps between workouts, these are workouts that have been missed.
In an ideal world you would complete each workout in the order we give you but this isn’t always possible. On this particular example at workout 9 on the Ultimate Muscle Guide I was due to train legs. On that day I had a slight injury in my right hamstring and a terrible nights sleep, so I decided to switch to another workout. I always prefer to switch if I’m unable to train legs properly, until I can give it 100%. It’s an important day, leg day.,This is a personal preference, you may think differently. Either way, what’s cool is I have the choice of how I deal with obstacle along the way. I can quickly choose a workout from other plans in my list. Some are there as back up plans for this very reason or I choose from workouts I’ve done previously in the plan I’m currently focusing on.
It’s flexible, I stay motivated and don’t feel like I’ve failed. I know exactly where I am in my overall plan. Ready to pick up where I left off when it makes sense for me.
Common reasons to go off plan
There are many factors impacting how well you are able to stick perfectly to a workout plan.
Here’s a few common reasons:
- Poor sleep
- Dehydration, not enough water that day.
- Poor food choices impacting your energy levels
- Stress
- Family or work commitments
- Motivation
This is clearly not an exhaustive list, you will know yourself how things out of your control can effect your plan.
Exactly how bad is it to go off plan?
The fact is when you go off plan there’s no sense beating yourself up about it. What’s important is not letting it effect you mentally, lowering your motivation to achieve the goals you have.
It’s not a big deal. You can pick up where you left off if you miss a workout or even better choose an alternative from your list if you are still able to workout but need to do something else. This in fact is the ideal scenario, switching things up! You’re still exercising and you’re still working on improving yourself.
The best way to think about poor performance during a workout is to class it as a maintenance session, you’re keeping the engine going. The best way to think about going off plan is that often times you’re still doing something valuable, either another workout from the app or maybe it’s a walk in the fresh air to recover and reset.
We say this a lot… you don’t have to be perfect but if you can be consistent over longer periods of time you will hit your goals. Like Thanos said, it’s inevitable.
Getting help and advice
If you need to talk to us about your training or want to request an app feature please get in touch inside the app via the account screen.
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