We get it. It’s hard to wake up on a Saturday or Sunday morning. Or late morning. Or even early afternoon. As long as it’s a weekend, it’s hardly easy to get up at all.
Whether it’s from a late night of partying or just plain tired from studying all week for midterms, it’s quite challenging to stay out of bed on the weekends.
And that’s why it’s all the more important that you carve out time to do some training.
Training? What?
It sounds crazy to some people who just intend to go out on weekends to hang out or relax. And it’s a perfectly acceptable reason to just keep on the down-low, especially if you’ve already spent your entire week buried in your books or glued to your computer screen.
But as surprising as it may seem, training or working out on weekends will bring you more benefits than the usual rest and relaxation that most people aim for.
Let’s do a run-down of the advantages of working out or training on weekends.
Enjoy a longer workout
Because weekends are generally routine-free, you don’t have to follow a rigid work or daily schedule. Instead, you have more time to devote to training. Why not use your weekends optimally by doing longer sparring sessions. I’m sure you’ll find someone who’s equally eager to do more work out.
Weekends are also a great time to devote to areas of your training that you normally neglect like stretching or doing resistance or strength training.
Explore different areas of discipline
Because you’re in no rush to finish up and get to somewhere else, you could use your Saturdays and Sundays to try and learn new techniques, with or without your sensei. You can do some advance learning to add to your already growing repertoire of martial arts discipline.
On the opposite end, you could also get up on weekends to try to brush up on past lessons or techniques that you feel you might be slacking off a bit or you need to further improve on. Because there’s less time pressure, you can practice a stance or move as leisurely as you can.
Sleeping in = fresher mood
Because you can sleep in a bit on the weekends, you get more energy and feel more refreshed. And this is the best time to extend yourself to train. You might even be in your most optimal physical disposition.
Why not try that technique that you’re having a hard time with? Or maybe do an extra thirty minutes to an hour’s worth of training. You have the strength and energy for it.
Change of pace can help you be more excited
Weekday trainings can be… routine. Maybe even a bit mechanical to do so. However, weekends are great for dictating a slower or different pace. You can try training in the evening instead of early morning. Or even train before going to the movies that night. That’s a great way to complete your day actually - getting a good workout in.
Try to have a different perspective on training on the weekends. Instead of thinking about it as an ordeal or a chore, look at the benefits and gains. And besides, you’ll only be training for an hour or two anyway. It won’t eat up your precious weekend. You’ll still have plenty of time doing the other stuff you want to do.
And take our word for it: you’ll feel excellent after a good sparring session. All that positive juice will flow right out of you after a nice workout. Then you can paint the town red or party the night away.