It might seem weird at first that a fitness platform is giving you tips on how to not workout. 

However, we are interested in promoting your overall well-being, and know that you will be able to continue your fitness journey long-term if rest is incorporated successfully into your life. I also know from comments on this article on exercise guilt and other posts in the community forum that some of you struggle with taking rest days, even when you know it is important or justified. Therefore, knowing how and being content with your decision to not work out is just as important for your overall well-being as getting in those HIIT and strength days consistently.

I want to first differentiate between an intentional workout and getting movement into your days. What I am referring to within these tips are the intentional workouts where you set aside time specifically to lift weights, do yoga, HIIT, cardio, or some other sort of formal workout. However, you can always find ways to incorporate additional movement into your days, which can be incredibly important for your overall health and well-being. For example, during a five minute break on your work day, take a few of those minutes to get up and walk around your home or office. Incorporate a little bit of gentle stretching into your downtime. What I want here is to avoid an all-or-nothing mindset when it comes to movement (described in this article on cognitive distortions); you are still free to move even if you don’t “work out.”

Second, I want to acknowledge that you do not need a legitimate reason or excuse to not work out. No matter how busy or free your schedule is, resting and taking days off from working out is not only valid, but important. Also, going through seasons of life in which intentional workouts are not part of your daily routine is valid. 

Reasons to not work out

That all being said, for those of you who struggle with not working out (even when you recognize it would be beneficial), I wanted to share some of the important reasons one might have to not workout. 

• Doctor’s orders: It may be the case that you receive doctor’s orders to not work out. Whether that be due to an injury, postpartum, or any number of reasons, it is important to listen!
• Rest day: If you can’t remember the last time you took a rest day, I’d say that is a good indicator that you are due for one. Our bodies need time to recover after workouts and need rest in order to function optimally. Related: How Many Rest Days Do I Need? Rest vs Active Rest; Overtraining Symptoms & How to Avoid Overtraining
• Excessive soreness: If you are finding that your body is sore in a particular area, it is important to not work that part of the body again and may be an indicator that resting is your best option for the day. This is particularly true if your whole body feels sore or exhausted from a previous workout.
• Illness: There are certain times when exercising while sick is actually helpful for our body’s recovery. However, most of the time, being sick or seriously ill are our bodies' ways of fighting for rest — so take it! As always, consult with a physician for any decisions regarding exercise while sick. Related: Should you Exercise with a Cold? Exercising While Sick
• Exercise addiction: If you find that you have a compulsive psychological and physiological desire (nay, need) to engage in exercise, it may be a sign that some rest time is needed. Depending on your personal situation, some additional support from a mental health professional may be needed to successfully stop. Related: How to Manage and Prevent Exercise Addiction
• Sleep deprived: Sleep is our body’s way of clearing out toxins and giving us needed energy to do everyday tasks. So, if you are finding yourself regularly sleep deprived, working out may help or hurt your ability to function generally and sleep again the next night. This one is all about balance!
• Burnout: If you are feeling completely overwhelmed by exercise — like you have to drag yourself to workouts or like you just can’t do it anymore — you may be burned out! Burnout is often a sign that rest or a break is needed.
• Vacation: While exercise can be really fun while on a vacation or while traveling, it isn’t necessary. Part of the point of a vacation is to get away and rest. So, if you don’t want to work out while on vacation, don’t! Also, you don’t have to work out “extra” before or after the vacation in order to “earn” the time off.
• Legitimately no time: We all have times where it seems like we are doing something important from the moment our feet hit the floor in the morning until our heads hit the pillow at night. If this is happening occasionally, those days are great days to take a break from working out (though I personally wouldn’t call that a “rest day”). 

How to not work out

Even though we know logically that these experiences (and more) are good reasons to abstain from exercise, it can be hard to get our emotions to follow. Many of us still feel guilty when we aren’t exercising, even on a day we planned in advance to be a rest day.

• Remind yourself of your why. Oddly, this is similar advice I gave in this article about how to get yourself motivated. In that context, losing touch with why you are engaging in fitness can make you feel like there is no purpose behind the practice and ultimately contributes to a lack of motivation. In this context, we need to essentially motivate ourselves to not workout for a specific purpose. That purpose can be as simple as needing a rest day, can be for recovery, or even just to fulfill other priorities. Regardless, if you are that person who works out just because you always do (it is a habit or addiction), then incorporating the purpose or intent behind not working out into your mindset will be helpful.
• Build up your resiliency toolbox. I often offer the metaphor that our ability to cope with difficult things in our life requires many different strategies we can pull from in times of need. This is helpful for not working out for a few reasons. First, if you tend to use exercise as your primary (or only) source of coping for stress, then you are only further putting stress on your body. After all, exercise is inherently a stressor. Second, having additional coping mechanisms in place helps you to manage your stress in a diversity of ways. Feel free to try out a new coping mechanism on your next rest day and it might help distract you from the guilt and also give you something else to do to stay resilient. Give any of our guided meditations a try or pick up that hobby you have been thinking about for a while!
• Switch things up. Many people who struggle with taking rest days from exercise tend to view exercise as a habit. It is just something you always do and so taking a day off throws your whole life out of whack. As I mentioned in this article on habits, in order to break away from habits, we must also get out of our routine. Habits are sustained by being around the same people, in the same places, and doing everything at the same time. So, if you are looking to take a rest day, maybe try putting yourself in novel surroundings. This will reduce the amount of discomfort you feel from not exercising (though note that this can increase anxiety generally because new things can be scary, so be mindful of how to respond to newness).
• Plan your rest days. Just like how we create workout splits to keep ourselves accountable to our goals, we can plan out when and how we are going to rest in order to meet goals (yes, even the same goal). Scheduling something into our lives actually increases the likelihood that we will do it. However, you don’t have to be strict with this. You can plan a floating rest day(s) where you will promise yourself to take a certain number per week and add those in where they make sense. This is most beneficial for me; if I come to day 7 and realize I haven’t taken a rest day yet, I know to take that day off. However, if a friend invites me to coffee on day 2 when I was planning to get in my workout, I can say yes and feel proud and happy about that decision as it helps me to meet my socializing goals.
• Revisit your expectations: A lot of the time, this mindset of needing to be working out every single day comes back to our expectations for ourselves. Perhaps you find yourself to be perfectionistic and hold yourself to the high standard of working out every day. In this instance, I would reflect on why/how working out every day means we are perfect when we know that recuperation and recovery are important parts of any exercise routine? Regardless of what those expectations are, allow yourself to be flexible and revisit them from time to time. 

Not working out (aka taking a rest day) is and can be just as important as our workout days. However, the number of rest days we take can vary based on goals, schedules, and even just our daily energy levels. Share in the comments below what has helped you all to be able to NOT work out?