All or nothing: what happens if you skip a workout?

Bad weather, a bad day at work or no mood – sometimes you don’t feel like going to workout at all. And some people think that one missed session wipes out all progress and after such an indulgence you will have to start again. Is it really so? Let’s find out together with fitness trainer Andrei Semeshov.

How does a break in training affect progress?

In fact, everything depends on the length of time you’ve been practicing: the “consequences” will be different for a beginner and a fitness-enthusiast. If you have been practicing regularly for several years and have gotten involved, nothing terrible will happen from one missed training session.

Andrei: If you have figured out what the main thrill of sports is, then skipping a workout will be… beneficial. You will rest a little longer, recover. You will be a little more “hungry” and fly to the next session with tripled enthusiasm.

If you can not boast of training experience, a short break will not cause critical consequences: it will not cross out previous efforts.

The trainer notes that in such a case it is worthwhile to understand why you decided to skip the session in the first place. If the reason was objective, it is normal. But if you lied and “skipped” without a good reason, this is a reason to work on your own motivation.

What if an athlete misses a training session?

When it comes to professional athletes, the situation is a little different. For example, during preparation for competitions.

Andrei: We train for ourselves, for our health. But it’s different when it comes to preparing for competitions, even amateur ones. Here you have to look individually and, perhaps, adjust further training.

What kind of break will not affect your progress?

It often happens like this: you just got into the taste, began to get satisfaction from training – and then, as it happens, a vacation or a long trip. But you shouldn’t worry about it: in a couple of weeks the progress you’ve made will not go anywhere and nothing critical will happen.

Even if the break is prolonged, you should not worry too much. Most likely, you will have to reduce the load a little at first, so that you can keep moving forward.

Andrei: The more training experience you have, the more useful skips and breaks are. For beginners, it is recommended to follow the discipline more strictly until you have accumulated “hours”.