There is something suspicious about Mondays.
The alarm sounds louder. The bed suddenly becomes five-star accommodation. Your gym shoes seem to disappear. Even your body begins producing medical conditions that were completely absent on Sunday afternoon.
“Coach, my knee is feeling funny.”
Which knee?
“You know…this one.”
Over the years, I have noticed something interesting in the gym: Monday sessions are often the hardest sessions to get people into. Not necessarily because the workout is harder, but because getting started feels harder.
Coach Philip Namasaka
And it isn’t just exercise.
Monday morning arrives carrying emails, meetings, deadlines, school runs, traffic, unfinished business from Friday and responsibilities that apparently spent the entire weekend waiting patiently for you.
Welcome to the Monday Mountain.
The good news? You don’t have to conquer the whole mountain at once.
You just need to start climbing.
Win Monday on Sunday
Sometimes the Monday battle is lost somewhere around 11:47 p.m. on Sunday when you are still scrolling through your phone saying, “Just one more episode or I will only watch the first half of the match“
Then suddenly it’s midnight.
Monday morning arrives and somehow Monday gets blamed.
Give yourself a fighting chance. Prepare your clothes. Pack your gym bag. Decide what time you’re training. Look at your diary. Identify the most important thing you need to accomplish.
And please…go to bed!
A little preparation on Sunday can remove a lot of Monday morning negotiation.
Don’t Negotiate With the Alarm Clock
This is dangerous territory.
The alarm goes off.
“Maybe I’ll train in the evening.”
Five minutes later…
“Actually, recovery is important.”
Another five minutes…
“Coach Phil always says we need to listen to our bodies.”
My friend, sometimes your body is not speaking.
Your blanket is.
Get your feet on the floor before your excuses hold a board meeting.
Commit to Starting, Not Finishing
One reason Monday feels difficult is that we look at the entire mountain.
An hour in the gym.
Eight hours at work.
Thirty emails.
Three meetings.
A difficult conversation.
And suddenly we are tired before we have even brushed our teeth.
Instead, ask yourself:
What is the next thing I need to do?
Put on the shoes.
Get to the gym.
Start the warm-up.
Open the laptop.
Make the phone call.
Write the first paragraph.
Take the first step.
Momentum has a funny way of meeting us after we begin.
Try the 10-Minute Rule
On the days when motivation has apparently travelled to Mombasa without informing you, make a deal with yourself:
“I’ll do ten minutes.”
Walk for ten minutes.
Warm up for ten minutes.
Work on that difficult project for ten minutes.
Clean the house for ten minutes.
If after ten minutes you genuinely cannot continue, fine.
But here’s the trick: once you’ve started, your body and mind often say, “Well…since we’re already here…”
And before you know it, you’ve finished the workout.
Sometimes motivation doesn’t come before action. Sometimes action creates motivation.
Monday Doesn’t Have to Punish You
Some people approach Monday workouts like they are paying for everything they ate over the weekend.
“Coach, destroy me today!”
Relax.
Exercise is not punishment for enjoying nyama choma on Sunday.
You don’t need to leave the gym questioning every decision you have made since childhood.
Monday can simply be your consistency day.
Move. Lift. Walk. Stretch. Sweat a little.
Laugh with your training partners.
Go home feeling better than when you arrived.
The goal is not to prove how tough you are, the goal is to keep showing up.
Find Your Monday People
Accountability changes everything.
It’s easy to disappoint your alarm clock, it doesn’t have feelings.
But when your friend is standing outside waiting for you at 5:45 a.m., disappearing becomes slightly more complicated.
Find people who help you show up. It could be a colleague, a coach, a spouse, a family member, a training partner or a group class.
Someone who can send that wonderfully irritating message:
“Where are you?”
Sometimes the difference between staying in bed and having a great workout is simply knowing that somebody is waiting for you.
Stop Carrying the Whole Week on Monday
Another mistake we make is waking up on Monday carrying Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and occasionally problems scheduled for next month. Put them down. Always remember that you don’t climb a mountain by jumping from the bottom to the summit.
Coach Philip
You climb it one step at a time.
Monday only needs Monday’s strength.
Handle the meeting in front of you.
Do the workout scheduled today.
Make today’s decisions.
Take today’s steps.
Tomorrow will arrive with its own opportunities, and probably another alarm clock.
Celebrate Showing Up
We love celebrating big victories.
Weight lost.
Personal bests.
Promotions.
Degrees.
Summits.
Businesses launched.
But there is another victory that deserves applause:
Showing up when you didn’t feel like showing up.
Those ordinary Mondays matter.
Every time you get out of bed when you’d rather sleep, train when you’d rather skip, work when you’d rather procrastinate, or take another step when progress feels slow, you are building something bigger than fitness.
You are building discipline.
And discipline will carry you to places motivation never could.
So, How Do You Conquer the Monday Mountain?
Don’t stare at the summit, don’t wait until you feel motivated and don’t have a 45-minute discussion with your pillow.
Get up.
Put on the shoes.
Show up.
Warm up.
Start.
Take one step.
Then another.
And somewhere along the climb, you may discover that the mountain wasn’t quite as frightening as it looked from your bed.
So this Monday, whether your mountain is a workout, a difficult project, a business challenge, parenting, studying, rebuilding your health or simply getting through a demanding season…
Keep moving.
You don’t need to conquer the whole week today.
You only need to take the next step.
And remember:
Don’t ask Monday how you feel. Tell Monday what you’re going to do.
Happy Monday!
Now get moving, before your blanket comes up with another very convincing argument.