You put so much effort into hitting your fitness goals, but what happens after you’ve completed your challenge? Perhaps you trained almost every day for six months, then pulled on your Lycra, laced up your trainers and went out to nail a half marathon through a crowded city or squatted your target weight by yourself in the gym. Where do you take your training when the milestone is met?

Most people quit exercise before they meet their goal – some studies even suggest 73% of people who set fitness resolutions give up before meeting their target – so you deserve to take some time to pat yourself on the back. 

But post-event blues are (anecdotally) real, says Talilla Henchoz, a personal trainer and founder of Club V. “It’s so normal to feel a little bit lost and even deflated after completing a big fitness event, reaching a milestone or completing a goal,” she tells Stylist.

“You will likely have experienced immense gratification and a sense of achievement, but then realise you’re out of your normal structure and routine you created for yourself when you were training for something. Sometimes that can feel a little bit confusing and you can feel lost after the thing your time and energy were focused around is over. You have to learn to embrace all parts of the goal – the training, achievement, completion, recovery and, finally, the reflection stage, which is so important.” 

Most of the time, the goal you’ve set is something your body has never accomplished before. In marathon training, you don’t run 26 miles before race day, so you do need to give your body time to recover from the intense, new speed or distance strain you’ve put it under.

“Your muscles will likely be more fatigued than usual and need the time to recover and repair in order for you to maintain your fitness,” says Henchoz. The exact amount of time you should physically rest your body depends on what challenge you undertook and how hard it was for your body, but between a day and a week of complete rest after a big event is advised. 

“It’s really important for your body to recover physically, but also for your mind to rest and for you to de-stress. Your body is likely to have been pumped with cortisol on event day and in the weeks leading up to it, so give yourself time to allow the central nervous system to reset and come back to a more calm state,” says Henchoz. 

After a couple of days of downtime, you might be restless to get working towards something new. Do you need to set yourself a new challenge or should you take down time in your training?

“In my opinion, it’s really worthwhile not rushing into your next event or goal straight away, especially if you just completed your first fitness challenge,” says Henchoz. “Give yourself some time to process what you found enjoyable, whether you want to do something like that again or if you’d rather change the goalposts and work towards something different.”

However, if you are someone who loves having the next goal lined up, then there’s nothing wrong with setting a plan. It’s probably a good idea to swap the milestone though. If you just ran a marathon, for instance, it’s probably not a good idea to immediately throw yourself into training for your next long-distance event. Instead, you might benefit from working towards a strength goal or developing skills in a different discipline. 

“Even if you’ve found the sport you love, there are ways of changing the goalposts, like working towards shorter, faster distances such as a 25-minute 5k rather than another long-distance race,” says Henchoz.

Be mindful that you may need to decrease the intensity of your training, depending on the previous goal that you have achieved, Henchoz says. “In those circumstances, you may want to take the goal away from performance and instead focus on a health goal like your sleep or routine,” she says. That way, you get the rewarding feeling without another all-encompassing training schedule. “A fitness goal requires a lot of commitment and time and I think it’s really important to give yourself that time back, because there may be other things in your life that you need to prioritise other than just events,” adds Henchoz. 

Often, the goal was the only thing keeping you motivated to turn up at the gym every week. Maybe you feel like you never want to see another squat rack, treadmill or bike ever again after the pain of your training programme. In short, your exercise motivation is now non-existent.

“Losing motivation happens to all of us, and unfortunately motivation isn’t something you can just buy over the counter or wake up with one day,” says Henchoz. “In times where you really don’t want to exercise, I think focusing on habits rather than big, abstract goals is better. Note down the fundamental things you can work on to feel good, whether it’s a daily walk or eating three meals a day. Then start to think about what types of movement sound exciting to you – maybe it’s community-based activity and you find a run group or it’s high-intensity classes so you find a local studio. 

“Don’t be scared to shake it up and try something completely new. Then you can think about becoming more consistent with the exercise and you will find you don’t always need a challenge to get you moving.”

And remember, whenever you’re ready for a new and exciting goal, there will be something waiting for you. For now, celebrate yourself and your accomplishment – not many people can do what you did. 

Images: Getty