Or: Why You Shouldn’t Feel Guilty About Taking Time Off From the Gym
Confession time: I’ve probably done only three CrossFit workouts in the last month.
That isn’t because I’ve lost motivation or decided fitness isn’t a priority anymore. Life simply happened.
First, our family experienced an emergency that had Scott and me traveling back and forth to Cleveland and spending significant time there. Our focus needed to be on taking care of our family, not making it to the gym.
Then, just as life started to settle down, we both caught a virus that turned into a bacterial sinus infection. Instead of pushing through workouts, we did what our bodies needed most: we rested.
Should I feel guilty?
Not at all.
In fact, this is exactly what we’ve been training for.
One of the core ideas in CrossFit is preparing for “the unknown and the unknowable.” We train so that when life throws us a curveball—a family crisis, illness, unexpected travel, or another major disruption—we have the physical and mental reserves to handle it.
Because we’ve consistently exercised for the past 10 years, we’re starting this season from a much different place than someone who has never trained. We’ve built muscle.
We’ve developed cardiovascular fitness.
We’ve created resilience.
Those aren’t things that disappear overnight.
Think of your fitness like a savings account.
Every workout is a deposit. Every healthy meal is another deposit. Every good night’s sleep adds a little more to the balance.
Then life happens.
You have to make a withdrawal because your time, energy, or health is being spent somewhere else.
That’s okay.
The goal isn’t to stay in peak training mode every day of your life. The goal is to build enough capacity that you can weather life’s difficult seasons without starting from scratch.
Fitness isn’t about perfection.
It’s about preparation.
There will be seasons when you’re building strength, setting personal records, and feeling unstoppable. There will also be seasons when stress is high, family comes first, or your body simply needs to heal.
Both seasons are normal.
If you’re in one of those harder seasons right now, give yourself some grace. Rest when you need to.
Recover completely.
Take care of the people who need you.
Your fitness hasn’t abandoned you.
You’ve simply made a withdrawal from the account you’ve been faithfully building.
And when you’re ready, you’ll start making deposits again.