If you've been on a fitness streak, killing it in the gym several days or weeks in a row, then you may feel guilty about skipping a workout. After all, sometimes life gets in the way of even your best intentions: a work commitment, family emergency, or maybe just dinner with friends. However, as this personal trainer explains, there's no reason to get down on yourself if you happen to skip a day at the gym [2].
Personal trainer Max Weber, NASM, ACE, wrote on Instagram the dos and don'ts of what you should do if you miss a workout. Although people tend to feel guilty about it, Max wrote that you shouldn't stress out, freak out, or beat yourself up. You also shouldn't punish yourself [3] with endless cardio the next time you get back in the gym or drastically reduce your calories. And if you think you'll lose all the progress you've made in the gym, Max says not to worry about it.
On the other hand, you should realise you're human and that missing a workout is normal. You also should get back on track tomorrow, and just push your training schedule [5] back by one day.
"Part of being a human being and living a normal life filled with exploration, fitness, family, friendships, joy, career and all the other things is realising that you will not always be perfect with your gym routine," Max wrote in his caption. "Our lives have variability — we have spontaneity that occurs, and this means sometimes we will just miss a workout. Is it a big deal? Nope, not at all."
In fact, it takes up to a few days of missing your workouts [6] for your body to really notice a difference. After three days, your body won't notice a difference, but after 10 days, you'll start to lose tone. By two weeks, you'll start to lose muscle mass, and by three weeks you'll have a "significant reduction in anaerobic power performance during activities like sprinting or HIIT," Liz Letchford, MS, ATC, PhD candidate [7], and personal trainer, told POPSUGAR.
So if you miss a day or two in a row, don't sweat it — definitely don't beat yourself up about it, enjoy your time off, and get back into the gym [8] as soon as you can.