When things come off the rails....

There will come a day when things come off the rails.  This topic is close to my heart or, I should say my back, after dealing with a chronic back injury for the past few weeks.  You never know when things will come off the rails in your exercise life, but one thing you can count on is that there's always something you can do about it.  Coming "off the rails" can kick your butt, but it can also bring out a strength you never knew you had - that way you can kick it right back (once you're allowed to kick, of course!)

Coming off the rails usually stems from a non-threatening event, but most commonly involves:

• an injury
• an illness
• an unexpected, unforeseen change in schedule ("Surprise!  Companys coming to visit for an entire month!")
• a known quantity that always railroads you no matter how much you prepare (the holidays, a vacation, a visit from a friend who still acts like he's in highschool...)

The biggest problem, however; often isn't the "off the rails" event itself, but our response to it.  The most common and debilitating reaction is frustration.  As in "I was finally getting back to my workouts / seeing results / not hating my workout routine, when I caught a cold / injured myself / agreed to host the office Christmas party and ended up quitting / skipping too many workouts ....and am now completely off track."

Most advice is useless in this situation, but there are two things you can do to get through almost any "off the rails" event:

1.  DON'T GIVE UP - promise yourself that you won't stop exercising, even if all you can manage is five minutes of focused exercise.  This will help you keep your workouts somewhere in your life.  Maybe they aren't your first priority, but they're still a priority.
2. FIND A WAY TO MOVE FORWARD - "off the rails" can be like a brick wall, making it difficult to get back on the rails.  The important thing to remember is that there is always a way to move forward.  Maybe moving forward means working the parts of your body that aren't injured or lightening up on exercise until your cold is gone.  Maybe moving forward is walking the stairs at work on your lunch break if you can't make it to the gym.  Even if you can only move a millimeter at a time, you're keeping that forward motion.

What do you think?  Have you been derailed from your workouts?  Remember to just moving forward ...carefully!