Struggled today.. pre work out meal?

Tklion

I missed the last three days going to the gym due to my busy work schedule. I noticed today I seemed to struggle a bit and couldn’t quite hit weight or reps I was hitting this past Friday including pr’s. It seems a little petty but I’m curious, could three days off cause this? I had a pretty unhealthy salad for lunch today and felt pretty bad after eating it, I feel this could have been the cause for my struggle but not sure. Can a single meal effect a workout several hours later?

dixoncheyenne

Anytime I have a few off days or skip a fitness class I have the same thing happen, I feel like I can’t lift as much or beat my most recent personal best. I try to use it as a motivator to not skip and to align other parts of my life to help me make it to the gym (get more sleep, eat on the lighter side then eat all my carbs/monster food AFTER I workout, make plans to meet a friend there, etc). I think diet & consistency definitely impacts energy levels so it is probably a combination of the two in your case.

lynn_glenmont

It could be a little physical slippage from missing the workouts; it could be mental slippage because you felt bad about missing the workouts.

It could be a lack of fuel from the "unhealthy" salad (not sure what "unhealthy" means to you, but if it was some low-calorie pile of greens, I doubt it would fuel a serious workout). If feeling pretty bad after eating it means feeling pretty bad physically, that could undermine your workout. If feeling pretty bad after eating the salad means emotional regret and negative feelings about yourself, that could undermine your workout.

And if your busy work schedule meant you weren't getting enough rest and sleep, that too could undermine your workout.

Or it could just be random variation -- data noise.

Take your pick.