When the Plan Changes, Keep Going

Some days don’t go as planned, and neither do our workouts. This was one of those days. What started as a structured plan quickly turned into something completely different, and a simple reminder I come back to often: movement doesn’t have to be perfect to be effective.

The other day, I had a plan.

I was going to hop on my treadmill and complete a 30-minute hike workout to prepare for an upcoming hiking challenge. Simple enough… or so I thought.

Less than a minute in, the power went out. I reset the circuit breaker. Nothing. Tried again. Still nothing. And in that moment, I had a choice.

Years ago, I likely would have stopped right there. No time to figure something else out. I had a short 30-minute window. No backup plan. No workout.

But that would have been the old me, someone who would’ve gotten frustrated when things didn’t go as planned, instead of rolling with it.

So instead of calling it quits on that workout, I started moving. Yes, I could have hopped on my bike, but instead, I pulled from years back...low-impact aerobic moves from my Jazzercise days, walking around the room, going up and down the stairs. Nothing structured. Nothing planned. Just movement.

Eventually, the treadmill came back on… and then went out again. When it stayed on, I didn’t have internet, so I couldn’t access my workout. So I adapted again with a manual one.

And by the end of it, what I had was a workout that looked nothing like what I intended… but still left me feeling energized, accomplished, and ready for the day.

It reminded me of something I talk about often:

Movement doesn’t have to be perfect to be effective.

We often get stuck thinking that if we can’t do the exact workout we planned, it somehow doesn’t count. But that’s simply not true. Movement is movement.

Whether it’s:

• a structured workout

• a walk

• a few minutes of stretching

• or something completely improvised

It all contributes. It all matters. And in many ways, there’s something freeing about letting go of the plan and simply responding to what’s in front of you.

Adapting. Adjusting. Continuing.

Because consistency isn’t about following a perfect routine every time.

It’s about showing up… even when things don’t go as planned.

And sometimes, those “imperfect” workouts end up being exactly what we needed.