Some people never get bored with strength training or working out. Week after week, and year after year, they can keep on doing the same thing without burning out or getting bored.
As much as I love getting stronger, lifting weights, and challenging myself in my home gym, I go through spurts where I just — don’t want to work out. I’m bored by strength training or simply don’t enjoy it.
I’m currently going through such a spurt now.
I took a few days completely off from strength training hoping that would help, as it usually does. This time, however, it didn’t work. I still had no desire or passion to lift weights or strength train, in any form. The very thought of going out to my home gym made me cringe. “I don’t wanna,” I whined in my head. (Pathetic, I know. But it’s true.)
Taking time off didn’t help reignite my passion for strength training, but instead of quitting all together, I came up with a solution.
The “I Don’t Want To Work Out, But I Know I Need To” Solution
Perform a workout of three exercises for a single, challenging set of each: a lower body movement and an upper body push and pull on a near-daily basis.
For example, I performed a bodyweight workout that went like this:
- 1a) Skater squat
- 1b) Chin-up
- 1c) Diamond push-ups
I went through that circuit one time, and I pushed each set very hard, stopping when I could do maybe one more perfect rep, but no more.
My logic behind this one-set-of-three-exercises approach was that I could easily talk myself into performing three tough sets. Because it was only three exercises, I could easily stay focused on the task at hand and work very hard because it takes only minutes.
If I felt great once I started, then I may do a second set of each exercise.
I’ve also used this approach with barbell and dumbbell exercises too.
Here’s another sample workout I performed recently that included only three exercises:
- 1a) Safety bar squat
- 1b) Standing barbell press
- 1c) One arm dumbbell row
I did the same thing — start out with one very challenging set for each exercise, and if I felt great, I’d go through the circuit a second time.
When You Just Don’t Want to Work Out, Try This
How can you use this? If you go through a spurt, as I currently am, where you just don’t want to work out and you don’t have another physical activity to participate in instead, then give this a try.
Build your own workout templates by choosing three exercises for both templates (you may want to build two templates for A and B):
Template A:
- A lower body quad dominant exercise (e.g. squat, lunge, step up)
- A horizontal push (e.g. push-up, barbell bench press, dumbbell bench press)
- A horizontal pull (e.g. inverted row, dumbbell row, face-pull)
Use these two sample templates to create your own:
Sample Bodyweight Workout Template A:
- 1a) Single leg squat
- 1b) Push-up
- 1c) Inverted row
Sample Weight Training Workout Template A:
- 1a) Front squat
- 1b) Dumbbell bench press
- 1c) One arm dumbbell row
Template B:
- A lower body hip/hamstring dominant exercise (e.g. back extension, swing, RDL)
- A vertical push (e.g. standing barbell press, dumbbell press, one arm dumbbell push press)
- A vertical pull (e.g. chin-up variations)
Use these two sample templates to create your own:
Sample Bodyweight Workout Template B
- 1a) Single leg hip thrust
- 1b) Handstand push-up variation
- 1c) Neutral grip chin-up
Sample Weight Training Workout Template B
- 1a) RDL
- 1b) Barbell or Dumbbell push press
- 1c) Pull-up
You can come up with several different circuits for both Templates using that format. In fact, I suggest coming up with two templates for A and B (a total of four templates) that you can rotate.
And then do a circuit, or two, almost daily with those templates. It’s that simple.
It’s a good idea to alternate bodyweight and resistance workouts, as shown in the Templates above.
For example, if you normally go to the gym two or three times per week, you can perform barbell and dumbbell exercises on those days. When you can’t make it to the gym, perform bodyweight exercises at home.
Here’s how that could look if you perform one of these workouts six days per week, assuming you can make it to the gym on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
- Monday – Gym workout with free weights
- Tuesday – Home bodyweight workout
- Wednesday – Gym workout with free weights
- Thursday – Home bodyweight workout
- Friday – Gym workout with free weights
- Saturday – Home bodyweight workout
- Sunday – Off
You can set it up however works best for you; that’s just one of many possible examples. Just plug in the workouts you created with Template A and B.
Other Tips and Tricks
On days I have a bit more energy and feel like working a bit harder, I’ll include some rest/pause sets for bodyweight and dumbbell exercises.
I’ve explained Rest/Pause sets in this article, but here’s a brief recap: perform one all-out set of about 10-15 reps stopping when you could do one more perfect rep, rest about 30 seconds, perform as many reps as possible, rest 30 seconds, perform as many reps as possible for a third, and final, time.
Here’s the exact workout I performed yesterday using the rest/pause method:
- Chin-up – 13 + 4 + 3 (20 total reps)
- Single leg back extension – 20 pounds x 15 + 8 + 7 (30 total reps)
- Parallel bar dip – 12 + 4 + 4 (20 total reps)
That workout took a total of 15 minutes, including a warm-up. I worked hard during that brief period and the next time I repeat that workout I’ll strive to do a bit better on each exercise. As you can see, the rest/pause technique is great for working hard in a short period of time, and that’s one of the reasons it’s used in the beautiful badass bodyweight workout guide programs.
If you’ve never used rest/pause training, give it a shot. (But be prepared for muscle soreness the next day, and don’t say I didn’t warn you.).
Using Different Rep Ranges
I like to use a variety of rep ranges throughout the week so I’ll rotate:
- Heavier sets of 5-8 reps
- Moderate reps of about 10-12
- Higher rep sets in the 15-20 range
This way I train a variety of rep ranges and can reap the benefits of each; plus, it keeps things interesting.
Using the same layout as shown earlier, here’s how you could incorporate different rep ranges assuming you go to the gym three times per week and work out at home with bodyweight workouts three days per week:
- Monday – Gym workout with free weights (5-8 reps)
- Tuesday – Home bodyweight workout (15-20 reps)
- Wednesday – Gym workout with free weights (10-12 reps)
- Thursday – Home bodyweight workout (10-12 reps)
- Friday – Gym workout with free weights (5-8 reps)
- Saturday – Home bodyweight workout (either 10-12 or 15-20)
- Sunday – Off
As you can see, you could train a variety of different rep ranges with both the strength workouts at the gym and bodyweight workouts at home.
Build circuits of three exercises you plan to use via the Templates above and, depending on how you feel, perform one or two circuits of each. Work hard and improve your performance the next time you repeat the workout.
Easy peezy, lemon-squeezy.
There’s No Way That’ll Work!
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. “How can one or two sets of an exercise help me achieve the results I want?” (Including fat loss).
Well let me ask you this. When you just don’t have a burning passion for strength training, what’s a better approach? To quit, all together, or to do the minimum (a quick 10-15 minute workout) most days per week?
You’ll obviously get better results by the one-or-two-sets-of-three-exercises approach than you would just sitting on the couch.
So if you just don’t want to work out right now but still want to get results, then put this to the test for a month and see how things go.
Use good exercises (as shown above), work hard, improve your performance, and track your results. Heck, you may be pleasantly surprised with the results you can achieve and you may even reignite your passion for working out again.
Only one way to find out…