Sometimes things don’t go as you wish. That happened to me this week – I was all set with 2 posts my team and I could look over and decide which one would be best to share with you this week.
I went to the Utah desert with the hope that a coffee shop would have decent internet (something that is a guarantee in even the most remote places of the world – I proved this when in Punta Arenas, the farthest point south on the continental Americas, I was able to chat over wifi with my business partner, who was in Austin, Texas at the time.)
Alas, that is not the case here in the Utah desert. Long story short, Plan A got shot down by the bad internet. As did Plan B. So what you’re reading now is Plan C.
Suitably enough, it’s about how to make it work when your situation sucks.
Circumstances can throw you off when you’re living life, and also getting workouts in.
The equipment you were hoping for might not be available, you might get in too late and the gym is closed, you might only have 15 minutes and your normal workout takes an hour (and dude, moving around a bit would make you feel so much better after that long haul travel!).
In any of these cases, knowing the 3 bodyweight exercises below you guarantee that with virtually zero space, virtually zero time, and literally zero equipment, you will still be able to move your body today.
You’ll be able to do a bit of work for your body that feels good, sets your tone for the day, and helps you maintain your fitness journey.
For example, while in California last week, I had a 4×5 space to do my workout in at my AirBnB.
So I set the timer and did big volume sets of bodyweight activities:
The 3 main exercises. Learn them. Have them on hand for when your situation gets rough and you can’t do the workout you intended.
One of the other major parts of feeling and performing your best is getting enough good-quality sleep.
Guess who had thunder and lightning role through in the middle of the night last night and a heat/humidity factor inside the tent that made it virtually impossible to sleep?
Yup. Me.
I don’t expect to sleep amazing when I’m camping, but my guess is I got 5 hours of sleep total the first night of camping.
To better handle your day after a rough situation sleeping the night before – plan for a nap, even just 10 minutes, and use a binaural beats app from your phone or computer.
The ambient noise and binaural beats are magical for helping you chill out for a bit. And consider modifying your workout to match your lack of sleep. Going for the biggest, most intense workout the night after bad sleep won’t be your finest moment.
For example, can you swap out today’s hard workout for something more soothing like a walk in nature or a few sets of back squats with ample rest in between, and skip the usual circuit training afterward?
Those swaps will help you handle yourself after a night of poor sleep.
And when you do get a bad night of sleep, aim to start your bedtime routine a bit earlier the next night so you can do your best to get a bit of extra sleep this evening.
Curveballs have a way of throwing you off your ‘feeling great, performing great’ game. And sometimes life throws you a massive curveball.
Immediate tension can set in when things don’t go according to the plan you set for them. That’s completely understandable.
The important thing is what you do after you realize the ship is off course and you have to adjust. And the best way to do this is by accepting that you’ll figure out what to do next, even though you don’t know what that ‘next’ is.
Remember – it’s not about what happens to you in life. It’s about how you respond.
Have a strategy for supporting yourself through the time of uncertainty when life tosses you that curveball.
If you’re a people person, you may do best in that difficult time by spending time with friends and family, talking on the phone to your best friends, or going places where other people are.
Perhaps you’re the opposite and cuddling up with Netflix for a day will help you get through that first rocky, “oh shit” bit of time.
From there, it’s all about getting your routine back and getting your eyes set on the new direction you’re headed. You’re stronger than the cage-rattling feelings of first realizing life tossed you sideways.
If you’re not sure this statement is true about you, do the following exercise:
On a piece of paper (I like pen to paper for exercises like this) write out as many experiences and memories you can think of when you overcame a hurdle. Big or small, they’re all important.
Cheesy? Perhaps. Absolutely helpful for giving you a bit of logical thinking when (quite often) emotional thinking is what’s guiding your every action after life veers off course? Definitely.
Many of the exercises like this, where you use logic and analyzation of your past actions and their results are helpful for two reasons.
Not only do they help you see your actions and results on paper, where you can read them objectively, but they also allow you head space to clear your thought patterns out of the emotional patterns that pull you down (you know, the ones that sound like… “oh my god, X happened, it was supposed to be Y, I’m so screwed, this is so terrible.”)
That negative emotional thought pattern isn’t helpful.
So as soon as you’re able to, start moving toward the logical, objective, thought process so that you can get a plan of action in place and get your ship moving forward again in a way that makes you happy.
My strategy for keeping up with my work while in the Utah desert didn’t go to plan. I hope my experience here helps you do a little pre-preparation for the next time your stuff doesn’t go to plan. Be resilient. Keep moving forward even when your line headed to your target gets a little squiggly.
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