{"id":22808,"date":"2025-07-20T02:20:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T02:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/22808\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T02:20:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T02:20:16","slug":"half-assing-workouts-changed-my-life-heres-how","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/22808\/","title":{"rendered":"Half-Assing Workouts Changed My Life \u2013 Here’s How"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you know me, you\u2019re probably tired of hearing me rattle on about my running<\/a>, walking<\/a>, and strength training<\/a> adventures (sorry, loved ones). <\/p>\n

That\u2019s partly because I\u2019m insufferable. But it\u2019s also because I never imagined I\u2019d get into sports \u2013 before the age of 23<\/a>, I hated the idea. <\/p>\n

Now, though, I worry I\u2019ve become a victim of the same conscientiousness some research suggests<\/a> might have put me off physical activity for years. Until about two months ago, I found myself skipping as many as three workouts a week \u2013 if I wasn\u2019t giving it 100%, I reasoned, I\u2019d better not go at all (this, despite knowing that any exercise is better <\/a>for you than none). <\/p>\n

But recently I\u2019ve been enjoying the delights of the \u201ccrappy,\u201d half-assed workout, and my exercise routine has never been more consistent. <\/p>\n

I spoke to Anna Mathur, psychotherapist and author of the upcoming book The Good Decision Diary<\/a>, about the joys of doing something badly instead of skipping it altogether. <\/p>\n

Unrealistic goals can lead to burnout <\/p>\n

The author told me that ambition isn\u2019t a bad thing, but goals rooted in shame or unrealistic expectations can set you on a fast path to disappointment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis leads to feelings of stress, pressure, unease, burnout, etc.,\u201d she shared. <\/p>\n

\u201cLofty goals often fail because they ignore the gritty reality of life, our fluctuating energy, ever-changing resources, the unexpected curveballs, responsibilities in other areas of our lives, and our nervous system state.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe might set out with \u2018I\u2019ll wake up at 5am and run every day\u2019 and when we inevitably miss a day because we\u2019re sick, exhausted or had a late night at work, we feel like we\u2019ve failed.\u201d <\/p>\n

As someone who used to bail from my beloved jogs unless I felt I could finish a record-beating 10k, I found myself nodding at her advice. <\/p>\n

To combat unfair and inflexible goals, be they for a new squat PR or a crochet project, the therapist sticks to what she calls \u201cthe 70% rule… if a choice feels 70% good enough, it\u2019s probably time to act.<\/p>\n

\u201cWaiting for the perfect moment or plan can keep us in a state of paralysis and stop us from starting. Half-doing something (going for a 10-minute walk instead of a 45-minute workout, writing a messy journal entry instead of none at all) is often how momentum builds and we take the pressure off.\u201d <\/p>\n

I have at least 70% conviction to work out most days, and if that only leads to a 45% effort, well, so be it. <\/p>\n

In fact, even my 10-minute walk to the gym is so much better than nothing <\/a>than I realise in the moment \u2013 even if I turn around and leave once there.<\/p>\n

How can I tell that a goal is backfiring?<\/p>\n

A few weeks ago, I spent three days pretty much solely in bed, dreading the prospect of my newly adopted gym routine. <\/p>\n

This, despite the fact that my running PR was the best it had ever been, and my squats were the heaviest I\u2019d tried. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s because, Mathur cautioned, \u201cGood decisions aren\u2019t just about the outcome (although that\u2019s where we\u2019re culturally taught to focus: on the external, the deliverables, the achievements) \u2013 they\u2019re about how they make you feel on the way there too, how you grow as you go, whether you resent the aim, burn out trying to get there.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne sign that a goal is backfiring is when it starts creating more anxiety than momentum,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe it\u2019s affecting your sleep, mood, or relationships. Maybe it\u2019s fuelling rumination, shame, or a harsh inner critic, or you keep falling short or \u2018failing.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

Though a backfiring goal might look impressive from the outside, she continues, it might be time to reconsider or reconfigure it once it leaves you feeling disconnected from yourself. <\/p>\n

\u201cA good decision feels like something you can return to, that doesn\u2019t carry that all-or-nothing, walking-on-a-tightrope quality, and is not something you\u2019re constantly bracing against,\u201d she ended. <\/p>\n

My new, more flexible routine (if I miss my previous early-or-nothing morning slot, fine; I\u2019ll do something a little less machine-heavy in my crammed 6pm gym) is one example, but the approach works for a far wider range of goals too.<\/p>\n

The Good Decision Diary<\/a> by Anna Mathur publishes 7 August 2025 (Penguin Life, \u00a316.99)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you know me, you\u2019re probably tired of hearing me rattle on about my running, walking, and strength…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22809,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[674,337,97],"class_list":["post-22808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-exercise","tag-fitness","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}