Chris Judd's tips for getting through a tough workout

When the workout gets tough and you want to give in, how can you push on through? Chris Judd has some tricks up his sleeve.

You know that moment when you're in a workout session and you reach breaking point? You're sweating, your breath is escaping you, and your heart feels like it might beat out of your chest?

It happens to me when I'm running sometimes. The discomfort creeps in, my muscles clench up, and form seems to go out the window. Nowadays, it's rare that I get to that point, but if you promised yourself pre-session you were going to push yourself to your max, once you arrive at this point it's important to push that comfort barrier and get there. After all, a tough workout is a great way to be present with your body. It's a bit like mindfulness in that way, and while the promises you make to yourself are the easiest ones to break, in many ways they're the most important ones not to.

Of course, not every workout session needs to be a struggle, but if you're aiming to challenge yourself, some of them will be. And whether you're training for a marathon or just pushing yourself through that last set in the gym, there will be times during a hard session when you're ready to throw in the towel - but don't sell yourself short.

Try these tools to help you stay in the zone.

To get through discomfort, it's important to come back to why you're actually putting yourself through it in the first place. Go in to your workout session with clear motivation on what your end goal is, whether that's getting to the level of an elite athlete or making sure you'll be fit and healthy in 30 years' time. Your desire for that has to outweigh the desire to stop.

By revisiting this motivation, you can focus your efforts, visualise what you want to achieve, and stay driven towards that goal. If it helps, try coming up with a short mantra that you can repeat in your mind like 'no limits' or 'breathe through it'.

Setting short-term challenges can really help you reach your long-term goals. It's simple, but sometimes I just mentally bargain my way through a tough workout. I make small challenges to myself, like saying 'I just have to keep doing this for ten seconds'. Then, when I get there, I take a short break and make another deal with myself to get to 20 seconds. Before I know it, I'm 30 minutes in.

We used to do this all the time in footy training. When you're trying to reach a particular goal, a training partner is a great way to stay up to the task. As you work out together, you'll find a natural competitive streak builds up between you and you'll push each other to succeed.

A training partner is peer group pressure in a positive sense - you're committing to someone other than yourself. So if you're looking to skip a session, you won't just let yourself down, you'll let them down too. Sounds dramatic, but this one really works.

If I go for a really hard run, I know my mind will start talking about how I've got a tight calf and how it's going to rip - which it's very unlikely to. My mind goes to this story because it did once, so that's the narrative my mind brings up when it's trying to alleviate the discomfort that intense exercise produces.

Your mind will play all sorts of tricks on you to avoid discomfort, and the struggle of a workout is no different. To combat this, try predicting the negative thoughts that will come to you in the middle of a tough workout and see how anticipating them changes your perspective.

When the thoughts arrive, just observe them and let them pass instead of acting on them. This way, you give them less power over you. It can even become amusing to you mid-exercise when those predictable stories arrive.

Wanted to run five kilometres but the heat got the better of you and you only ran one? Don't beat yourself up if you don't achieve your goal. Consider that it's just one session of many and you can't be perfect all the time. Your progress isn't always going to be linear, so just try again tomorrow.

You'll have ups and downs, good and bad weeks, but as a whole, the longer you keep at it, the closer you'll get to your goals. It's all part of the journey.

Former Australian Rules footballer Chris Judd is familiar with how to get your heart rate up and push yourself physically. Twice winner of the prestigious Brownlow Medal, Chris is an honoured sportsman and father to four children, Oscar, Billie, Tom and Darcy. The information in this article is general information only and is not intended as medical, health, nutritional or other advice. You should obtain professional advice from a medical or health practitioner in relation to your own personal circumstances.