When you find yourself with a toothache that feels like a railroad spike is being driven into your molars, what do you do: call your dentist’s office to set up an appointment, or stay at home to wait until you feel better, and then go to the dentist’s office?

“Stop asking such stupid questions, coach.”

Of course you’re going to call the dentist’s office, pronto, and set up an appointment. You’ll get down and beg on your hands and knees if that’s what it takes to get an appointment this afternoon.

It’s silly, then, that we so often do the exact opposite when it comes to getting to the gym. You head to the gym when you feel great, un-stressed and energized, when the sun is out and the birds are chirping, when there’s ample free time and wiggle room in the schedule. And then, when you need it most — when you’re feeling mentally exhausted, stressed, defeated, depressed, pulled in a million different directions, sore, fatigued, the list goes on — you pull away and put the gym off as a luxury rather than a necessity. Days then turn to weeks and the snowball grows and grows. Ironically (and not in the “haha” way), this is exactly when you most need a physical outlet and a block of time to be physically and mentally present, away from the list of demands on your attention. This is when you need to get yourself to the gym with the same eagerness that you’d rush to the dentist’s office when your tooth feels like it might be trying to kill you from the inside.

Of course, this is also when it’s the hardest to get to the gym. There’s no use in denying that. But I’d be willing to bet that you could make room in your schedule for a spot in the dentist’s chair in your time of need.

Give yourself the respect you deserve: stop sitting in your suffering and create the space to care for yourself and get the very thing you need most.

- PS

11/12/19

• In 10 minutes, work up to a heavy set of 5 in the back squat

Then...

• For time, 10,9,8...2,1 reps of:

• Strict pull-ups

• Dbl DB push press (50/35)

• *15 min time cap