What To Do When You Miss All
or Some of Your Workout

Often, life can get in the way of our best-made plans and affect things we want to do with our full efforts. When you run out of time and miss sections of your workout due to such occurrences, some rules can help you focus on what you need or find ways to make up for what you missed later. Here are some general guidelines to stay focused when everything else is working against you:

- Learn how to prioritize and make up missed workouts, even when time and facilities are against you.
- Discover the crucial components of your training plan and how to make them your top priority.
- Find creative ways to make up for missed workouts and stay on track with your goals.

Here is the order of importance for you when having to miss or move workout sections to a later time:

1 – Your Weakness – Focusing on your weaknesses is a crucial priority. When you doubt completing a workout, ensure you do not miss an opportunity to focus on your weakness entirely. This will be different from one person to the next, but if that means getting to the pool earlier and postponing the weight room or running section of your workout day, get the swimming and pool skills done if that is your weakness. The same goes for other events on the schedule that day, and they all depend on your weaknesses. Your weaknesses will be exposed on day 1 of any future tactical training, so the goal now is to make any weakness less of a weakness – priority 1.

2 – Facility Hours – Sometimes, pools, weight room, and equipment are not available when you are making time to get them done. In that case, you may have to be more flexible and work out earlier or later. Look to squeeze in a separate session during lunch or after school/work, depending on your schedule and the facilities you use. Having an option available to replace any facility issue should also be considered, whether that means accumulating some equipment of your own (weights, weight vests, other), running in place of swimming, or doing calisthenics instead of lifting. It would be best always to have a plan B for training as relying on other organizations can often cause disappointment.

3 – Replacement Ratios – As mentioned above, if the pool is closed and you cannot find a safe open water option, replace any swim time with the following ratio: every 500m of swimming equals a mile of running or 10 minutes of non-impact cardio (bike, rowing, elliptical). You may have to get creative, like during COVID, when pools and gyms were closed, and rely on yourself. Any swimming with fins can be replaced with stairs, bleacher runs, hill runs, or rucking on the same ratio of 500m = 10 minutes or a mile of activity. There is a great saying used by the Army Rangers (and other small military units), “The best support is your own support.”

4 – Bump It to the Right - First and foremost, it's important to remember that missing a workout here and there is not the end of the world. I like to have a floating “day off” in my week. My day off is normally on Sunday, when the week works well. But, sometimes, things need to get bumped to the right and done the next day. Life happens, and sometimes our schedules don't allow a full gym session. However, it's crucial not to let those missed workouts derail your progress. Instead, prioritize the missed session and plan to make it up.

When prioritizing missed workouts, look at your training schedule and determine which workouts are non-negotiable weakness-focused. This could mean doing a quick bodyweight workout in your living room, running outside, or even incorporating high-intensity interval training into your day. Something is better than nothing. If stressed out, do a Mobility Day in its place and bump the missed workout to the right.

Additionally, consider doubling up on workouts during your next training session. If you missed a strength workout earlier in the week, add some extra sets or reps to your next strength training session to make up for it. Just be sure to listen to your body and avoid overtraining. Same for a swim or run workout, add some laps or interval sets to the next day.

Keep pushing forward, stay focused, and don't let missed workouts discourage you. With the right mindset and a solid plan, you can continue on the path to reaching your goals, no matter what obstacles may come your way.