BY EBENEZER SAMUEL
I’m not a fan of deloads. Truth is, most people don’t train quite hard enough to need a deload week – and it’s that hard training that yields results. But . . . it’s been a long year. And sometimes, even if you don’t need a physical deload, you do need a mental one.
So it is with the final days of 2025 (and any year, really), and there’s a good chance you don’t necessarily want to focus on workouts. That’s OK, too. Now is a perfect time to simplify your training and give yourself a mental break that’ll set you up to enter 2026 feeling refreshed (and stronger than you may think).These three rules are the key to that mental break.
PONDER YOUR 2025 EFFORT
The true mechanism for gains in any good set in the gym, whether you’re talking about biceps curls or squats or pullups, lies in the final reps of a set. It’s these hard reps that you have to gut out to build muscle and strength.
That’s an apt metaphor for the end of every year – and something I use to fuel me to the finish. End the year by flashing back to January, when you set your fitness goals, and think back on the work you’ve already put in. Think of your workouts over the final days of 2025 as a way of honoring all the hard workouts that came before.
FOCUS ON THREES
Not just these three rules, either. To keep your fitness sustainable, think in threes. Aim to do three full-body workouts each week until the start of January, and keep these simple. In each session, you’ll choose three exercises: A push move (like a bench press or pushup), a pull (like a row or biceps curl), and a leg move (like a lunge or squat or Romanian deadlift). You’ll do 3 sets (of 8 to 10 reps) of each exercise.
Rest 30-60 seconds between each set, and don’t stress your SMRTFT bell weight; you’re mostly grooving your main movement patterns and keeping muscle tissue healthy. And for a few weeks, that’s more than enough.
TARGET EARLY
You don’t need to wake before the crack of dawn to get in your workout. Heck, you deserve to sleep in. But when you do wake, try to get your workout done first thing. This sets you up for success from a social standpoint, insuring you’ve trained before such things as breakfast pancakes or family time or travel can take that away.
It does more than that, too. An early-morning workout, even if it’s light, helps rev your metabolism, and it’ll lead you to unconsciously make better nutritional choices for the rest of the day. And mentally, a workout first thing is proof that you’re prioritizing yourself during the holidays. And that’s the right tone to set for 2026.