There is a particular kind of day. Nothing is wrong exactly, but you feel flat. Or wound up. Or just heavy. The session is in the diary and every part of you wants to cancel it. You have a reasonable excuse ready. You are tired, it has been a long week, you will do it tomorrow.
I have had those days. Every client I have ever worked with has had those days. And what I have noticed, over and over, is that the session you least want to do is usually the one that helps the most.
Not always. Sometimes you genuinely need rest, and I will come to that. But most of the time, the reluctance is the symptom, and the movement is the thing that shifts it.
What the evidence says
The research on exercise and mental health has grown a lot in the last few years, and the picture is fairly consistent. Regular physical activity reduces symptoms of depression, anxiety and general psychological distress across a wide range of adults. A large review published in 2023 found the effect was comparable to, and in some cases larger than, that of medication or talking therapy for mild to moderate symptoms.
That does not mean exercise replaces those things. If you are struggling, speak to your GP. Exercise works alongside treatment, and NHS talking therapy services in some areas now build physical activity into what they offer because of how well it works in combination.
What the evidence does mean is that the feeling of “I can’t face it today” is not a reliable guide to whether training will help. It is usually the opposite.
Why the reluctance is so strong
When your mood is low, your brain is very good at making everything seem like more effort than it is. Getting changed feels like a task. Driving to the park feels like a task. The session itself looms as an hour of discomfort you cannot see the end of.
At the same time, your brain is quietly undervaluing the reward. You forget how you felt after the last session. You forget that it was fine once you started. The whole cost and benefit calculation is skewed, and the skew always points towards the sofa.
Knowing that does not fix it. But it does mean you can stop trusting the feeling quite so much.
The trick is to make the first step tiny
Nobody has ever done a session by deciding to do a session. They did it by putting their trainers on. Then they went outside. Then they walked to the end of the road. The session happened because each step was small enough to do without arguing with yourself.
On a flat day, do not commit to the session. Commit to getting changed. If you are still not up for it once you are changed, fine, you can stop. Almost nobody stops at that point, because the hard bit was the decision, and you have already made it.
If you train with me, the equivalent is simpler. Just open the door. I have done the deciding for you. All you need to do is turn up.
Adjust the session, do not cancel it
A low day does not mean you have to do the full plan. It means you do something. If the plan was a hard strength session and you feel wiped, do a lighter one. If the plan was intervals and your head is not in it, go for an easy run instead. If even that feels like too much, walk for 20 minutes.
The point is to keep the habit intact. A shortened session keeps the chain going. A cancelled one breaks it, and the second cancellation is always easier than the first.
Clients I work with across Prestwich and Whitefield have heard me say this a lot. Some days the win is the session. Some days the win is that you did not skip it.
When you actually need rest
Sometimes the reluctance is real and you should listen to it. If you are ill, rest. If you have slept badly for three nights in a row, an easy walk is better than a hard session. If something hurts in a sharp or specific way, stop and get it looked at.
The difference is usually obvious once you are honest. “I don’t feel like it” is a mood. “I am not well” is information. They are easy to tell apart once you ask the question properly.
What tends to happen
You do the session, or half of it. Somewhere around the ten minute mark, the fog lifts slightly. By the end, you feel different. Not transformed, just clearer. Lighter. The thing that was bothering you is still there but it has shrunk to a size you can look at.
That effect is real and it is well documented. Aerobic exercise in particular is consistently linked with improved mood in the hours afterwards, and the effect builds when you do it regularly. Strength training helps too. The best form of exercise for your mental health is, unhelpfully, whichever one you will actually do.
Building it in so it does not depend on mood
The most useful thing you can do is take the decision out of the moment. Fixed sessions in the diary. A trainer who is going to knock on the door at half six. A running group you have told you will be there. Anything that means the question “do I feel like it?” never gets asked.
This is quietly the main thing I do for clients. The exercises matter less than the turning up, and the fact that on the flat Tuesday in November, someone is going to arrive in Bury or Salford or Worsley with the kit and the plan, and all you have to do is open the door.
If that sounds like something that would help, get in touch for a free chat. And if you are finding things harder than a flat day, please talk to your GP. Exercise is a powerful tool, but it is not the only one, and you do not have to sort it on your own.
