Breaking the Guilt: Why Skipping a Workout Isn’t the End of the World
“I can’t take a rest day.”
“I would feel so guilty if I skipped a workout.”
“Missing a workout feels like the end of the world.”
Can you relate to one of these statements? If so, you’re not alone.
In a world where “healthy living” reigns supreme, the line between devoted and disordered gets extremely blurred.
In today’s world of "healthy living," it’s easy to mistake disordered behaviors for dedication.
And for so many, the idea of skipping a workout can cause guilt, anxiety, and even panic.
But here’s the truth: Missing a workout isn’t the end of the world—in fact, it’s a necessary part of a having a healthy relationship with exercise.
If you’re constantly tied to exercise and fear missing a session, your relationship with fitness may need some adjustment.
So today, I’m going to share 4 key reasons why skipping a workout isn’t as terrible as you might think—and how to create a balanced, sustainable approach to fitness instead.
1. Your Body Won’t Change Overnight
A lot of women fall into the trap of thinking they have to keep exercising lest their bodies fall apart and lose tone or fitness overnight.
Ladies, let me reassure you: Your body will not change overnight.
Let me say it again: Your body will not change overnight!
You won’t suddenly gain a tremendous amount of weight, you won’t lose muscle, and your fitness level isn’t going to go down the drain after a day...or even two or three or four.
Missing a workout will not kill you! Your body is going to be just fine.
It takes significant time away from your routine (and massive changes in your diet) for your body to change dramatically. A few days or even a week isn’t going to make a difference.
Feeling like you have to workout every day (or almost every day) because your body might change if you don’t is a sign that your relationship with exercise could use some support, which brings me to point number 2...
2. Rigidity is Harmful
It is absolutely possible to love fitness and enjoy working out without being disordered about it. That’s what I refer to as “devotion.”
However, one of the key distinguishers between disordered and devoted is how rigid you are about exercise.
Devotion brings balance and flexibility, whereas disordered brings rigidity.
If you can’t be flexible when it comes to your fitness routine, gym time, taking unexpected rest days, etc., that is something worth exploring. Why? Because it means that you will have to accommodate other aspects of your life around your exercise and that just isn’t healthy.
Rigidity around fitness (for those who aren’t professional athletes) is usually a sign that we are trying to manage (or avoid) something deeper psychologically through our relationship with exercise.
Rigidity also tends to be related to guilt and negative feelings if you aren’t able to follow through with your routine in the way you planned or expected.
Again, this means that other areas of your life (e.g. work, school, relationships, mental and emotional health) are likely going to suffer if you have to plan your day around the gym.
At the end of the day, this is not an act of self-love, and a healthy relationship with exercise and fitness always come from a place of self-love and self-respect.
3. Because Sustainability is Not Compatible With Compulsivity
We all know that from a physical perspective, there are many reasons to take rest days. However, they are incredibly important from a mental perspective as well.
Having a healthy relationship with exercise means that you are engaging in behaviors that are adding to your health, not taking away from it. This means that you’re resting both your body and mind.
Compulsive exercise eats away at you, because your body doesn’t have a chance to rest and repair (making you more prone to burnout, injury, and illness) and your mind is always thinking about your next workout or replaying your last one.
Feeling like you have to exercise or spending hours obsessively thinking about exercise, planning workouts, or scrolling through fitness influencers on Instagram etc. is damaging to your mental and physical health.
This kind of obsession is not compatible with a routine that is sustainable, nor is it compatible with mental health. In fact, it’s a recipe for anxiety, depression, and disordered eating (or a full on eating disorder).
Exercise is additive to your wellbeing only when it’s not obsessive, plays a part of your life but isn’t the whole thing, and it’s something that you can sustain for years to come because it’s not draining you physically and emotionally.
The bottom line is that if you want to have a healthy and sustainable relationship with exercise, you have to accept that there are cycles to life and fitness. Not every day can or should be linear in terms of progress or effort, because that’s just not real life.
There will be ups and downs, times of high intensity and devotion, and times where you’re going to have to dial it down, change your routine, or hit pause.
In order to make fitness a healthy & lasting part of your lifestyle, it has to be sustainable both mentally and physically.
4. Trust Yourself and Your Body
Every healthy relationship involves a foundation of trust, and that includes the one with yourself.
Trusting yourself means that you trust that your body is strong and resilient enough to handle a missed workout or two (or three).
It means that you trust that even if you are sidelined by illness or injury and you have to work your way back, you’re going to be just fine.
If you worry that you are going to mentally crumble because you get sick or injured and can’t workout, then that’s a sign that you are relying too heavily on your fitness routine for your mental health.
Exercise can be a powerful antidote to depression and anxiety, but there is a sweet spot that needs to be found there. There can absolutely be too much of a good thing and too much exercise isn’t better for you.
Your mental health should never be reliant on just one thing, because that’s putting you in a very precarious position my friend.
The bottom line is that taking days off of fitness is not only important for your physical health, it’s important for your mental health as well.
Need some help healing your relationship with exercise? I’ve got you covered. Download the FREE guide below!