Is it cheating to choose an easy gym class?

Last Monday I came back from a 10-day family trip to the Netherlands, filled with family events and a ton of traditional Dutch food. During that time, city strolls and long walks in the parks and picturesque farms were my main source of exercising. As I came back, I didn't hit the gym right away as I was fighting a jetlag and a light cold. All in all, I haven't showed up at the gym for 2 weeks. 

By Wednesday night I started feeling an urge to exercise but wasn't ready yet for a full hour-long class. So I did 20 minutes of abs and tabata (repetitive 20-second rounds of intense exercises) at home. On Thursdays I usually take a very high intensity interval TRX class. But I still didn't feel ready for it. I decided to skip it and instead do another shorter workout at home. However, as the day progressed, I started debating whether I should go to the gym. I checked the schedule and saw a yoga class offered at the same time as my other class. So I made it to the gym and took a yoga class. For me personally, yoga classes, similarly to Pilates and barre, are in the 'easy' category: they don't involve cardio, much sweating, and, therefore, as much effort as some other classes I normally take.

And not for the first time already, I started thinking whether taking an 'easy' class should be considered 'workout cheating'. One the one hand, I know that I have to work much harder in the other class and I deliberately decide not to do so, which makes me think of it as cheating. But on the other hand, if I didn't take this yoga class on Thursday, I wouldn't even show up at the gym. And the mere fact of dragging myself to the gym makes the transition to my regular exercise routine easier for me. 

There are two different scenarios here. It is one thing to take an easier class every now and then to give your body a break. It is a completely different story when you are consistently doing something that doesn’t require much effort and decisively makes you feel like you have exercised. If your main goal of coming to the gym is to snap a picture of yourself with a dumbbell or to only do exercises that are significantly below your fitness level, don't be surprised by the results. Otherwise, if you have a balanced exercise routine with a mix of workouts in it, whatever you do to get yourself back into your regular routine counts! Don't guilt yourself for taking it easy sometimes. Be proud of every step you take!