How Do You Make Up For A Missed Day At The Gym?

Q: How do you make up for a missed day at the gym? See, I regularly go to the gym after work three days per week. This week, however, I won’t be able to make it on one of my scheduled days at my usual time because I have to appear to be a good employee and attend a voluntary work function after work that’s really not voluntary, which kinda defeats the fucking purpose of the word “voluntary”.

A: So the problem is that you have to miss a workout because of an intervening event that you’re already aware of.

Well, because the thing that’s keeping you from the gym isn’t something completely out of the blue like sudden illness or car problems, you can simply plan to wake up earlier to go before commuting to work. Another possibility is to go to the gym on your lunch break. You should be able to make it to the gym on your workout day by doing one of those two things. But in the event that going to the gym at any time on your normally scheduled day isn’t an option at all, then work out at home before or after work with bodyweight exercises or small hand weights and resistance bands you can be proactive and purchase if you don’t already own some.

Those are a few things you can do on the day of your workout so you still get it in and don’t have to miss it if maintaining your workout schedule is of that much importance to you. Toward that end, you can also plan ahead and double up your training or move your workout to some day before the obligation that necessitates your time. But what if you can’t do any of that or any of the other suggestions and have to skip the workout entirely?

The most obvious solution is to make up for the missed session on a rest day. If, however, it’s not convenient to go to the gym an additional day, then double up on your next workout day and perform the workout you missed and the one you’re scheduled to do.¹ Or just take advantage of the missed workout by using it as an extra rest day, with you simply resuming your training schedule from where you left off and then shifting every other workout over one spot. If you’ve been consistent, then no harm should come from skipping one workout. As for the work social event that you kinda sorta have to attend to avoid being viewed as someone who isn’t a team player and that label possibly affecting your promotions and pay raises, you can always call in a bomb threat at the moment of the function starting. That way, it’s canceled and you can get out of going without having to burn bridges.

Now, does anyone else have a fitness or nutrition question of their own that they want to ask?

Glossary: gym, exercise, fitness, nutrition, rest day, work out, workout, routine

Author
Recent Posts

Monster Longe

Monster Longe is a personal trainer in San Diego. He has been lifting weights for +25 years and training clients in the gym and online for about half of that time. When not working with clients or making content that's easy to read, understand, and apply to everyday life, he enjoys long walks and leaving buildings crushed and entire city blocks decimated in his wake.

How Do You Make Up For A Missed Day At The Gym?

Related Articles: