Ways There are seasons in life when exercise feels almost impossible — and that’s okay. Whether you’re navigating grief, pregnancy, postpartum recovery, or simply an overwhelming schedule, here’s how to find your way back to movement without the guilt.
The last 18 months of my life have been some of the hardest I’ve ever faced. My mom was diagnosed with stage four cancer and passed away nine months later. I experienced two miscarriages. I lost my dog. And through all of it, my relationship with exercise — something I’ve built my career and identity around — quietly fell apart.
I have a PhD in strength training. My postdoctoral research is in exercise science. I am, by every definition, someone who believes deeply in the power of movement. And yet, for over a year, I could barely get myself to the gym.
If you’re in a season like that right now — whether it’s postpartum exhaustion, a health crisis, career overwhelm, or just the cumulative weight of being human — this post is for you. Here are five reflections that have genuinely helped me (and many of my clients) reconnect with exercise when motivation feels completely out of reach.
Many of us built our exercise identities during a season of life when we had unlimited time — early 20s, pre-kids, lighter responsibilities. Back then, 90 minutes in the gym wasn’t just normal; it was the baseline. And that baseline can quietly become your definition of what exercise “should” look like.
The problem? That all-or-nothing thinking follows you into seasons where 30 minutes is genuinely all you have. If it doesn’t feel like enough, you skip it entirely. And then the gap widens, the guilt compounds, and getting back feels even harder.
Ask yourself: if a close friend or patient told you they only had 20 minutes today and were considering skipping the gym entirely, would you agree that 20 minutes wasn’t worth it? Probably not. Yet we hold ourselves to a standard we’d never impose on someone we care about. That’s the double standard worth confronting first.
Goals are meant to be motivating anchors, not sources of shame. But when life shifts dramatically, a goal that once excited you can start to feel like evidence of your failure.
I’ve worked with clients who signed up for a Hyrox event while pregnant, fully intending to be ready by five months postpartum. Then postpartum arrived and rocked everything they expected. Now the race is approaching, they’re nowhere near ready, and instead of adjusting — they’re spiraling.
Here’s the truth: unless you’re a professional athlete with a contract, your race goals, PR timelines, and competition plans are allowed to change. Moving an event, adjusting your goal from “compete to win” to “compete to finish,” or simply deferring your entry is not failure. It’s wisdom. The goal exists to serve you — not the other way around.
You cannot grow in every area of your life simultaneously. That’s not a motivational platitude — it’s a resource problem. Time and energy are finite. When one area of your life is expanding rapidly (a new baby, a career pivot, a family health crisis), something else has to run on a lower setting.
For a long stretch, my education business has been in maintenance mode so my fitness could move forward. Other times, my fitness has been the thing on maintenance while my career or family needed more of me. Both are valid. Both are survivable.
A 25-minute resistance session — three sets of squats, three sets of lunges, a few ring rows — counts. That’s what I did today, between back-to-back meetings, while growing a baby. It’s not what I used to do. But it’s what this season allows. And that is enough.
Remember: You overestimate what you can do in a day and underestimate what you can do in a year. Consistent maintenance is how you survive seasons of high demand without losing everything you’ve built.
When motivation is low, a full program feels like a mountain. So stop looking at the mountain. Look at one step.
In the hardest stretch after my second miscarriage — when I was dealing with blood loss, hormonal shifts, grief, and the constant worry about my mom — I couldn’t commit to a workout. But I could commit to one kilometer. I told myself: run one kilometer. If you need to walk after that, walk. If your heart rate hits 165 after 800 meters, that’s information, not failure.
Starting with one thing works because it removes the cognitive barrier. You’re not agreeing to a 45-minute session followed by stretching. You’re agreeing to do squats. Just squats. Everything else is optional.
Most of the time, once you start, you do a bit more. But even when you don’t — you did the thing. That matters. That’s a win.
There is no rule that says your workout has to look a certain way. And when motivation is already fragile, scheduling something you dread is actively counterproductive.
For a long stretch, I couldn’t make myself do high-intensity work. My stress levels were already maxed out. The thought of pushing my heart rate to 185 and holding it there for 15 minutes made me want to stay in bed. So I stopped doing it. I leaned into bodybuilding-style accessory work, kept my main lifts (squat, deadlift, bench, power clean), and started exploring — Peloton classes, spin, even looking into dance classes.
When you’re in a hard season, exercise should be a refuge, not another obligation. Let it be something you actually want to show up for. The intensity and structure can return when you’re in a better place. Right now, joyful movement beats no movement every single time.
If you’re struggling to stay consistent with exercise right now, here’s the framework to come back to:
1. Examine your beliefs — is your definition of a “real” workout realistic for this season?
2. Revisit your goals — are they still serving you, or creating unnecessary pressure?
3. Identify your season — are you in growth mode or maintenance mode, and is that okay?
4. Start with one thing — lower the bar until it’s easy to step over.
5. Do what you enjoy — remove the dread and you remove the biggest barrier.
Life is long. Your fitness journey is long. This hard season is not the whole story.
Christina Prevett is a pelvic floor physiotherapist who has a passion for helping women with different life transitions, including postpartum care and menopause.
