Last night I had another one of those typical disagreements about my workout routine. Then today, Mehdi on StrongLifts.com writes about exactly that:

Can’t You Exercise Tomorrow? Bad. You break the exercise habit & accustom people to skip workouts for reason X. Do it once, and you’ll get plenty of more reasons to skip workouts in the future, “but you did it last time!”

Solution: men need time for their women, friends, and themselves. If you’re not “allowed” to spend 1h30/week doing StrongLifts 5×5, find somebody else. Nothing is worse than having no freedom to do what you need to be happy.

Bingo. Too true.

Mehdi writes about women sabotaging your workout routine — and gives some good explanations for why they do it — but in my experience, it’s not limited to just working out. They’ll try to change your diet, your social habits, your dreams, your goals… anything they can. You can’t let it happen.

Women don’t think like men. When you allow it once, they don’t remember that and considerately make a point of not doing it next time. No, if you do it once, they’ll establish that as a precedent for doing it again and again.

If you care about someone and choose to spend your life with them, then it’s good to change your dreams and goals and friends to include your partner. But there are some things a man needs for himself. That’s sacred ground. Don’t give in — even if it’s just a workout — or else you’ll find yourself six months later wondering why you ever quit going to the gym.