Unless you’ve spent all summer sunning yourself on the beach, you’ve probably heard of quitting quiet—the hot “new” work trend that many of us have subscribed to. The premise is simple: don’t try harder at work than you have to (or you’ll get paid for it). It may not get you a promotion, but it is seen as a way to re-evaluate priorities and enforce self-care boundaries.
However, look beyond the world of work and apply the principles of quitting quietly to your fitness regimen to reignite your interest in exercise.
It’s no secret that keeping motivated can be one of the hardest parts of training. Whether we’re stuck in a fitness rut, can’t find the energy to exercise, or are struggling with injuries, even the smallest hit can throw our routine out the window.
And it’s in those moments that doing the bare minimum without dropping our fitness plan altogether comes in handy. When we stop loving exercise or are struggling to complete a certain workout, the urge to get heavier or faster will only make us stop faster forever.
Quiet Quiet Practice: What Are the Benefits?
When you do less, you feel more in control
dr Josephine Perry, sports psychologist and author of The ten pillars of successtold stylist that it is important to have three main pillars to stay motivated:
- mastery (feeling we’re good at it)
- autonomy (having a choice and a say in how we do it)
- belonging (the feeling of being part of something bigger)
Regardless of other factors, according to Dr. Perry the risk that “if we add extra reps to a set, we might start to fail on them and we might lose our sense of mastery.” She also warns, “If we deviate from our plan and do extra exercises, we feel like we’ve lost some autonomy. So if we do what we had planned but no more, we’re in a good spot to keep the motivation going.”
It’s about breaking fitness goals down into small, achievable chunks to reap rewards without reaching burnout.
It makes us more likely to show up for training
We’ve all had times when we’ve been tempted to skip training. “When we’re feeling tired, stressed, or overwhelmed, knowing we have a big workout ahead of us can often feel like too much, and that’s why we shy away from even going,” says Dr. perry
To get around that, she suggests “promising yourself that you’ll just do the basics so you feel like it’s a lot more doable. That makes it more likely that we’ll show up.”
You might be tempted to try something new
Hollie Grant, founder of Pilates PT, says quitting quietly could be a powerful way to encourage women to try a different type of exercise as well. For example, if a person prefers HIIT training, they’ve found that “asking someone to slow things down and try something that’s more muscle building than cardiovascular building can be really difficult, unless they are.” hurt”.
But “the concept of quitting quietly could be a good way for people to consciously think about turning to something that has less impact or is less intense, like Pilates or yoga.” And a switch to a slightly less intense activity could then help redefine training goals by taking away the immediate pressure of a set routine.
It can help us avoid injury
Injuries are the last thing you want to experience because frustrating pain, inflammation and sprains can cause serious problems in the long run.
dr Perry says, “If we’re someone who tends to really get into our training and keep adding more and more, we risk injury or overtraining. Sticking with a set that we know works well for us and staying within limits can help us build our fitness consistency without disruption.”
Ultimately, Grant agrees that it’s important to downsize when you need to: “By doing what’s necessary, you’re still doing something.”
While it might sound like an odd approach at first, stopping the workout quietly could be the difference between continuing with the bare bones of certain workout routines or quitting them altogether.
