There’s a particular kind of tiredness that has nothing to do with how hard you trained. It’s the tiredness that comes from showing up, doing the workout, watching the clock, and going home — having technically been in the gym, but not really there. Your body did the reps. Your mind was somewhere else entirely.
On a recent episode of the Lincoln Nutrition and Fitness Podcast, Coach Teresa and host Emily got into exactly this — what it means to actually be present in your training, why some seasons of fitness feel completely different from others, and what to do when you find yourself just going through the motions.
Type 1, Type 2, and the Fun You’re Missing
Theresa broke fun into categories that are worth sitting with. Type one fun is the obvious kind — a boat, good music, a sunny day, everyone agreeing it’s fun in real time. Type two fun is harder to spot from the outside: a brutal workout like Murph, where you’re sweating and suffering and somehow still having a good time in the moment, not just in the retelling.
But there’s a third kind, and it might be the most overlooked. “Type three fun is like — it actually does suck, but then looking back on it, you can be like, okay, there were some good points,” Theresa said, describing a hike up Pike’s Peak that went sideways. She and a friend underestimated everything — water, food, weather — and ended up filtering stream water with a $20 filter, getting caught in a downpour, and hitchhiking down the mountain nine hours after they’d started. It was miserable while it was happening. It’s one of her best memories now.
What connects all three types isn’t the activity. It’s whether you were actually there for it. “A lot of people don’t have the capacity to just slow down enough to be present in that moment,” Theresa said, “to really enjoy the potential fun that is happening around them.” Some people can’t sit still. Can’t put the phone away. Can’t shut their mind off long enough to notice they’re having an experience at all — good, bad, or absurd.
That’s the real question underneath “are you present or just present”: when you’re at the gym, are you actually in the workout, noticing your body, your breath, the people around you? Or are you just occupying the time slot, waiting for it to be over?
Why the Same Workout Stops Feeling Like Anything
This is where reinvention comes in. Theresa talked about coming into CrossFit as a strong runner, chasing one specific goal — being fast, being able to run carrying weight — and eventually checking that box. “That goal – box checked,” she said. The danger is what happens next if you don’t pick a new one. You keep doing the same thing, for the same reason, until the reason stops meaning anything. That’s when training quietly turns into just going through the motions — not because the workout changed, but because you stopped changing with it.
Her answer was to treat fitness like it has seasons. Maybe you were the fastest runner last year. Maybe this year you’re chasing your deepest squat, or getting genuinely good at a Turkish get-up, or working on mobility instead of max weight. “I’m in a different season of my life,” she said, “and I’m going to reinvent myself for this season.”
That reinvention isn’t a downgrade. It’s what keeps the whole thing from going stale. The runner who never lets herself care about anything else eventually gets bored or burnt out. The person who’s willing to let one goal go and pick up a new one stays curious — and curiosity is what makes you present.
Falling Back in Love With Training (Without Chasing the Old You)
So what do you actually do when you notice you’ve checked out — when the gym feels like a box to tick instead of something you want to be inside of?
Coach Emily’s advice wasn’t about motivation or hype. It was about honesty. “Being okay, not improving every day. And not improving for where you were, because where you were, you’re now a different person.”
That’s a hard thing to accept, especially for anyone who used to PR regularly and now plateaus more than they progress. Emily was candid about her own shift: buying the gym, and Theresa on becoming a mom, watching their own fitness change shape because their priorities changed shape. “I’m not as fit as I was. That’s not my focus. This other thing is my focus. And learning to be okay with that — that’s what I have to do to keep coming back.”
The trick isn’t pretending the old version of you doesn’t exist, or chasing her back. It’s grieving that version a little, appreciating who you are now, and finding a new way to engage with the present moment in front of you — even if it looks completely different from three years ago.
Falling back in love with training rarely happens through more intensity. It happens through:
- Picking a new focus. If your old goal is done, choose a new one. Mobility, a specific skill, consistency itself — anything that gives you something to actually pay attention to.
- Letting go of old comparisons. Measuring today against three years ago guarantees disappointment. Measure today against last week instead.
- Actually being in the room. Notice the people next to you. Joke around. Let the workout be social, not just physical. That’s often what turns type two fun into something you genuinely enjoy instead of endure.
- Accepting the plateau as information, not failure. A plateau just means it’s time to change what you’re chasing — not that you’ve done something wrong.
Emily summed up what’s kept her own passion for fitness, even now: “I made everybody laugh in class today and we had a blast — and have no idea my score and I definitely didn’t PR, and I am okay with that.”
That’s the whole thing, really. You don’t have to PR today to have been present today. You just have to actually show up for it — body and mind both in the room — instead of going through the motions and calling it training.
Whatever season you’re in, our coaches will help you find the next thing worth chasing. Come train with people who’ll actually notice when you walk in.