Mondays-Take it easy on yourself.

I have oft wondered, why do we always try and start fitness goals on Mondays?  I mean it's no mystery that this is when the week starts so it's logical to try and start at the so called beginning of the week, but do you think your body knows any difference?  The short answer is no, the body knows no difference. I have from time to time been obsessed with either a certain # of workouts or mileage as a gauge of fitness.  I can specifically remember times when I ran say 10 miles on Sunday and then kept track from there for the week.  On the next Monday I looked at the "mileage" and was over 40 miles or so, and when I compared to the previous "week" I was up from like 25 (a no no).  The difference of course was that I counted from different days and that I really ran 30-35 over 2 similar 7 day periods.  Which is fine.

Now many of you are saying.  "This dude is an idiot, he just can't count."  But the point of this post is really to say that while having a consistent plan is always the goal, success is not just gauged in "miles" or when your week starts.  For a period of time I used a coach name William Jones of 4D Fitness and Racing. He had me doing my long runs on Thursdays, which goes against what most people do.  This allowed me ample time on the weekend to get in a longer ride without having to scramble to get a long run in as well.  In addition, it made the quality of both workouts better.

Finally, Mondays suck.  If for some reason you can't get your workout in at the beginning of the day and then you have a crazy work day, many will find they miss a Monday workout and set the tone for their training or diet with a flop.  This does nothing to build consistency or confidence in what you are trying to accomplish.

For me Monday is a  rest day or at the most easy swimming and running.  This gets me to Tuesday fresh and ready to roll.  As far as eating goals, why not try and start on a Friday or Weekend day when we usually let loose?  Think about how much more successful your week would be if you got through one of those weekend days with a solid day of eating healthy?

Good luck today and I hope your Monday is stellar.