I don't feel like training today. There. I said it. And the funny thing is, I probably felt completely different about it when I got out of bed this morning.

Most mornings I get up with every intention of getting my training done. I know what class I'm going to do, I know when it starts and I've organised my day around it. Training is absolutely part of the plan. Then somehow, with about 20 minutes to go, the negotiations begin.

There's always work that needs doing. Always. There's an email I could answer, something on the website that needs fixing, programming I could get ahead on or a phone call I should probably make. Something suddenly seems incredibly important now that there's a training session about to start.

That's when the little voice starts making some pretty compelling arguments. You could really use this hour. You've got heaps to get done today. You can always train later. That last one is a personal favourite because, after all these years, you'd think I'd have learned that "later" is a mythical place where apparently I have unlimited time, endless energy and absolutely nothing else to do.

The reality is that I still have this argument with myself all the time. I've been training for most of my life. I've owned a gym since 2010. Training is quite literally part of my job. And yet there are plenty of days when I simply don't feel like doing it.

So if you're waiting for the day when training becomes something you automatically want to do every single time, I've got some disappointing news for you. That day probably isn't coming. What you can do is get better at preparing for the days when you don't feel like it.

For me, that starts with having a plan. I don't want to get to the middle of the day and ask myself whether I'm training. I've already decided that. I know which session I'm doing and, whenever possible, when I'm doing it. That doesn't mean I'm suddenly excited about it when the time comes. It just means one of the decisions has already been made.

The next thing is ridiculously simple: have your gear ready. Any excuse will do when you're already looking for one. Can't find your wraps? Excellent. Gloves are in the other car? Perfect. No clean socks? Well, clearly the universe has spoken and today's workout simply wasn't meant to be.

It sounds ridiculous when you write it down, but it doesn't feel ridiculous when you're standing there with 15 minutes until class trying to convince yourself that you're far too busy to train. So I try to remove those little escape routes before I need them. Wraps ready. Gloves ready. Shoes ready. Whatever I need for the session is there.

Then there's food. This one has become increasingly important to me because having meals prepared isn't just a nutrition strategy. It's a training strategy. If I've eaten properly through the day, I'm ready to train. If I've been busy, skipped meals and suddenly realise I'm starving an hour before the session, I've just given myself another perfectly reasonable argument for skipping it. Meal prep removes that argument.

None of these things are particularly exciting. Have a plan, get your gear ready and prepare your food. It's hardly the stuff of inspirational training montages, but that's sort of the point. When I'm feeling motivated, I don't need any help getting to the gym. Nobody does. The days you feel great are easy.

The systems are there for the other days. They're there for the day when work is piling up, the day when you've slept badly, the day when it's cold, the day when you've had enough and the day when training feels like one more thing being added to an already ridiculous list.

Nine times out of ten, I still get the session done. Not because I win some heroic battle with myself at the last minute, but usually because I've made enough decisions beforehand that the battle doesn't get to decide. The session is in the plan. My gear is ready. I've eaten. All that's really left to do is walk through the door.

And here's the thing I've learned after thousands and thousands of training sessions: I never regret the ones I do. I only regret the ones I miss.

That's worth remembering because we spend so much time worrying about how we feel before training. I'm tired. I'm busy. I'm not motivated. I don't really feel like it. But how you feel 20 minutes before the session doesn't have to determine what you do next.

You don't need to somehow become the sort of person who wakes up desperate to train every day. You just need to recognise that the days when you don't feel like training are coming, then prepare for them on the days when you do.

Make the plan, get your gear ready, prepare your food and remove as many little decisions and excuses as you possibly can. Because when that voice starts negotiating with you 20 minutes before training, it's much easier to ignore it when you've already made the decision.