What Counts As a Missed Workout

The 75% Rule: When Your Workout Still Counts

The answer to what counts as a missed workout is simple: if you complete at least 75% of the planned workout volume, it's not a miss. It's a win. You’re probably asking this after a workout where you felt weak, ran out of time, or just couldn't hit your numbers. You did *something*, but not what your program said. Now you're staring at your log, feeling guilty and wondering if you've derailed your progress. You haven't. The all-or-nothing mindset that says a workout is either 100% or 0% is the single biggest reason people quit. Real progress isn't built on perfect workouts; it's built on consistent, “good enough” workouts. Let's define that 75% rule. Volume is calculated as (sets) x (reps) x (weight). If your plan was 4 sets of 10 reps at 100 lbs (4,000 lbs of volume) and you only managed 3 sets (3,000 lbs of volume), that's 75%. You hit the mark. You stimulated the muscle. You maintained the habit. You log it, and you move on without an ounce of guilt. This isn't an excuse to be lazy; it's a strategy to stay in the game for the long haul.

Stop guessing if your workout counted.

Track your volume. Know you're making progress, even on bad days.

The Hidden Math That Proves All-or-Nothing Fails

That feeling of guilt after a less-than-perfect workout comes from a false assumption: that every session must be a personal record. This is wrong. The goal of training isn't to be a hero every day; it's to accumulate enough stimulus over months and years to force adaptation. This is where the math of consistency demolishes the myth of perfection. Imagine two people on the same 4-day-a-week program for a year. That's 208 potential workouts. Person A has an all-or-nothing mindset. They have a great month and hit 16 perfect workouts. The next month, life gets stressful. They only feel up for 75% effort, so they skip 4 workouts entirely, figuring 'what's the point?' They complete 12 perfect workouts. Total stimulus: 28 workout units. Person B uses the 75% rule. They also have a great month and hit 16 perfect workouts. The next month, they also feel drained. But instead of skipping, they show up and do 75% of their planned volume on those 4 tough days. They complete 12 perfect workouts and 4 modified ones. Total stimulus: 28 + (4 * 0.75) = 31 workout units. It seems like a small difference, but over a year, Person B accumulates 15% more training volume. That's the difference between stalling for six months and hitting a new personal best. Your body doesn't remember one bad workout. It responds to the overall trend. You know the 75% rule is better than 0%. But the only way to truly kill the guilt is to see the data proving it. Can you look back at the last 90 days and see your strength trend, including the bad days? If you can't, you're still letting feelings dictate your progress, not facts.

Your progress, proven with data.

See your strength trend upwards over time. Kill the guilt for good.

Your 3-Step Plan for When You Don't Feel 100%

A bad day is inevitable. Feeling tired, stressed, or weak is part of training. Having a plan for these days is what separates people who get results from those who spin their wheels. Don't just wing it; follow this protocol.

Step 1: The 10-Minute Rule

Your brain is a terrible judge of your body's readiness. You might feel exhausted, but your body is capable. The 10-Minute Rule is your filter. Start your workout as planned. Go through your warm-up and perform your first working set of your first exercise. After about 10 minutes, make an honest assessment. 9 times out of 10, the movement and blood flow will make you feel better, and you can continue the workout as planned. But if you still feel genuinely awful-unusually fatigued, achy, or weak-give yourself permission to switch to the modification plan below. This rule prevents you from letting a bad mood dictate your training.

Step 2: Choose Your "Volume Lever"

Your goal on a bad day is to hit at least 75% of your planned volume. The easiest way to do this is by pulling one of three levers. Do not pull all of them. Pick one.

• Lever 1: Reduce Sets. This is the best option for most people. If your program calls for 4 sets of an exercise, perform 3 sets instead. This reduces your total volume by 25% while keeping the weight on the bar (the intensity) the same. For a squat workout of 4x8 at 185 lbs, doing 3x8 at 185 lbs is a perfect 75% modification.
• Lever 2: Reduce Reps. If the weight feels manageable but you're gassing out quickly, reduce your reps. If you were aiming for 10-12 reps, perform 8-10 instead. This keeps the intensity high for the reps you do perform but lowers the overall effort.
• Lever 3: Reduce Weight. If you feel weak, achy, or your joints are bothering you, this is the lever to pull. Reduce the weight on your main lifts by 10-20%. If you were supposed to bench 205 lbs, drop it to 175-185 lbs and perform the same number of sets and reps. The intensity is lower, but you are still practicing the movement pattern and accumulating volume.

Step 3: Log It Honestly

This is the most important step. Do not log what you *should* have done. Log what you *actually* did. If you did 3 sets instead of 4, your log must say 3 sets. If you used 185 lbs instead of 205 lbs, your log must say 185. A workout log is not a report card; it's a data collection tool. Inaccurate data makes it impossible to manage progressive overload. Logging honestly does two things: it gives you an accurate picture of your training, and it psychologically reinforces that a 75% workout is a valid, recorded session. It's a data point, not a failure.

Your Progress Chart Will Look Messy. That's How You Know It's Working.

Stop chasing a perfect, straight line of progress on a chart. Real progress looks messy. It has peaks, valleys, and plateaus, but the overall trend goes up and to the right. Embracing the messy reality is how you win.

First Month: The Habit Phase

In your first 4-6 weeks, expect inconsistency. You'll have great days where the weight feels light and bad days where you need to use the 75% rule. Don't judge the outcomes. Your only goal is to show up for every scheduled session and log what you did, good or bad. You are building the bedrock habit of consistency. Success isn't a new PR; it's having 16 completed entries in your log after a month of a 4x/week program.

Months 2-6: Seeing the Trend

This is where the magic happens. You'll look back at your log from 3 months ago and see it. Your deadlift has gone from 135 lbs for 5 reps to 185 lbs for 5 reps. Your average volume per workout has increased by 15%. You can physically see the upward trend line cutting through the noise of your good and bad days. This is what builds unshakable confidence in the process. You no longer fear a bad day because you have data proving that they don't stop your progress.

The Warning Sign

A bad day is normal. A bad week is sometimes necessary. But a bad month is a signal. If you find yourself using the 75% rule for more than half of your workouts for 3-4 consecutive weeks, your body is sending you a clear message. This is not a willpower issue; it's a recovery issue. It means your program's total volume is too high, your sleep is too low, your nutrition is off, or your external life stress is overwhelming your ability to recover. This is the time to schedule a deload week and reassess your program or lifestyle factors.

Frequently Asked Questions

What If I Do a Completely Different Workout?

If you were scheduled to lift and you went for a 5-mile run instead, that counts as a missed workout *for your lifting program*. It does not mean the day was a loss-the run was great for your health. But in the context of progressive overload for strength, it's a miss. Log the run, but leave the lifting session for that day blank. The goal is specific adaptation, which requires a specific stimulus.

How This Affects Progressive Overload

A single 75% day does not break progressive overload. Think of it as a temporary dip in a rising stock chart. For your next session of that same workout, you should attempt the original 100% goal again. If you were supposed to bench 150 lbs for 4x8 and only did 3x8, your goal next week is still 150 lbs for 4x8. Don't lower your future goals because of one bad day.

The Difference Between a Bad Day and an Injury

Fatigue is a general feeling of tiredness or weakness. Pain is a sharp, specific, and often worsening sensation in a joint or muscle. If you feel sharp pain, the workout stops immediately. That is not a 75% day; that is an injury risk that you must avoid. The 75% rule is for managing fatigue, not for pushing through pain.

How Many "Bad Days" Are Too Many?

A good rule of thumb is the 1-in-4 rule. If more than one out of every four workouts (25%) in a given month requires modification, it's a sign that your overall recovery is not matching your training load. It's time to evaluate your sleep, nutrition, and stress levels, or consider reducing your program's volume.