Anyone else have those days where you just feel weaker? How do you push through?
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natruallycurious
Posts: 359 Member
Today seemed to be just one of those days for me. I started at a new gym last week where I have to do ten one on one sessions. We did front squats last week, and by the end of six sets, they still felt decently easy and like I could go up in weight. Today, we started a little lower than last week's stopping point, and it seemed to be way more difficult. I let the trainer know how I was feeling and we kept the weight lower for today, but I'm just frustrated about it. I don't know why things felt so much harder today. Anyone else experience these types of days?
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Replies
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Everyone does until your muscles get used to the exercises and movements. Alternating body parts allows the muscles to rest and recover. Some days are just better than other too depending on your mood, weather, focus, energy level, etc.1
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I totally still have those days! It's frustrating! I've been experimenting with carb timing and its been helping. The way I look at it, I try to put 100% of my effort into my workouts but some days are more productive than others. Just trybto do your best each day and you will ptogress over time3
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I also bring a gatorade to keep hydrated and some heavy metal music to keep me going. Today was one of those days until I broke a sweat then it was beast mode. Do you do any cardio to warm up and get the blood flowing?0
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Everybody has bad days. Sometimes you push through, sometimes you quit because the workout isn't going to be productive. Then you come back and give it your all next time.5
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Listen to your body and train harder when you feel strong and easier when you feel lousy.3
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liftorgohome wrote: »I also bring a gatorade to keep hydrated and some heavy metal music to keep me going. Today was one of those days until I broke a sweat then it was beast mode. Do you do any cardio to warm up and get the blood flowing?
Sometimes. It depends on the workout for how much cardio is involved in the warmup. Sometimes it's time on the bike or rowing machine, but today there wasn't much0 -
Listen to your body and train harder when you feel strong and easier when you feel lousy.
Agreed. Sometimes I start off feeling sluggish and once I get going I have the best workouts. Other times it just never happens, so I just go with whatever I am able to do. I have learned not to get bothered by the bad days and just accept them for what they are. Every workout is not going to be better/faster/stronger than the last. It's progress over the long haul that matters.2 -
evilpoptart63 wrote: »I totally still have those days! It's frustrating! I've been experimenting with carb timing and its been helping. The way I look at it, I try to put 100% of my effort into my workouts but some days are more productive than others. Just trybto do your best each day and you will ptogress over time
I concur!0 -
It happens. The longer you go the less you'll stress about bad days. When I first started lifting, bad days really affected me. Now with over 1,500 training days under my belt it doesn't bother me. Some days are stellar, some are crap and most are just average. It's the most that are average that get you down the road.7
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Since I've been tracking my sleep, I've noticed a correlation between less sleep and my energy level 1-2 days later.5
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Honestly, if I am not feeling normal I try to listen to my body and rest. Sometimes your body just needs some extra rest, sleep, nutrition, water, etc.
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100% of lifters experience this.
Just like anything, lifting is not linear.
Hence why I utilize RPE in my training. To get the best on the good days, and still aquire the same amount of muscle stimulas on the bad days with lighter weight.
Progressive lifting is about the progress you'll make as you continue through the bad ones.
9/10 my very next session is a good one.2 -
Wow! What a great thread of posts. There are some really smart and experienced people contributing. The only thing I have to add is, good for you. We all struggle. It takes courage to ask for help. I love to see all these encouraging responses. Well done people. We need each other to make it down our individual paths.6
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Since I've been tracking my sleep, I've noticed a correlation between less sleep and my energy level 1-2 days later.
ain't that the truth.... even the very next day too.
I was recently on a training run and was just gassed from beginning to end.
My training partner said: " You didn't sleep much last night, did you?"
Spot on.6 -
If you're food logging, it might be worth reviewing your diary when you have an especially bad workout or an especially good one? Over time, you may see a pattern in your eating that day (or the day before) that seems to make a difference. Most likely factors would be macronutrient composition or timing of macros/calories.
+1 to the sleep possibility, and I'd add stress level as another potential contributor (can be a plus or a minus, IME - I've had a few very good stress/anger fueled workouts
). 2 -
In addition to the comments re food, it’s important to remember that your body’s recovery cycle won’t always match your workout schedule.
Sometimes the fatigue is more mental and you can push through it. Sometimes your body is just not ready and you need to either back off or skip altogether.
Sometimes trying to force the issue when you are fatigued just delays your recovery even further.
It’s disappointing and frustrating to have a bad day, but don’t be discouraged. It is an inevitable part of the process.
And why are you doing 6 sets of front squats?2 -
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I do still have those days. On Friday’s I feel noticeably sore or tired from a week of working out. Saturday and Sunday rest and Monday I’m raring to go.0
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Everyone has those days. Even at my peak, I would have times where I would hit a new PR and then the next time go in and not even be close to hitting it. Your body needs rest, and when you don't give it ample rest and recovery time, it sort of forces you by being weaker. It's hard to not get discouraged when this happens, but the best advice I can give is to give it a day and try again. Don't give up. Stay dedicated and eventually you'll look back at these weights and be astounded by how much you've blown them out of the water.1
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In addition to the comments re food, it’s important to remember that your body’s recovery cycle won’t always match your workout schedule.
Sometimes the fatigue is more mental and you can push through it. Sometimes your body is just not ready and you need to either back off or skip altogether.
Sometimes trying to force the issue when you are fatigued just delays your recovery even further.
It’s disappointing and frustrating to have a bad day, but don’t be discouraged. It is an inevitable part of the process.
And why are you doing 6 sets of front squats?
It was supposed to be 5x5. But since I am newer to this gym and program, we started at a super light weight (literally around 35 pounds after warming up with the 15lb bar) because they don't ever know what level people are coming in at. We did a sixth set just because they were feeling good and easy, and we wanted to add some more weight1
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