Training out of my house has it’s advantages and disadvantages.
I can listen to any music I want and not have to wear earphones. I can enjoy the fresh air. But if it rains, I have to think of what to do for that day or maybe not train at all. I sometimes train alone which I don’t mind, but it’s good to have a training partner to give you a little kick in the ass when you need it.
One day, I felt tired and sluggish but had heavy cleans and squats on the training menu.
I did my warm-up and began my olympic barbell warm-up. Right then, I knew it was going to be a long training day. I did everything I could to try to wake up my system. I even went from listening to Tupac to listening to ACDC.
I added weights to my cleans and felt slow. I was not in the right mindset to go heavy. I decided to keep the weights lighter, around 70-80% of my 1RM and instead of doing the full clean, I just didn’t clean pulls to work on technique. After a few sets there, I did the same with squats and followed up with a few accessory lifts like Face Pulls, Rows, and Overhead Presses.
It has become days like these, because they will come, that makes me proud of who I am and where I am on this journey towards strength.
Why am I proud of these moments? Because usually in the past, I probably would have been pissed off and whined about how horrible of a training session it was on Twitter. Or tried to grind out the workouts only putting myself at a risk of injury which would only leave me kicking my own ass (it has happened before).
I still did some sort of work that helped me improve and after finishing the workout I felt much better and more awake. That’s what I needed after how I felt that day.
Don’t Take it So Serious
Too many approach their workouts too seriously. Yes, you can take things seriously but if it’s not there on a particular day, put aside the ego and let it go. You want to constantly beat that PR or beat that time with a “no matter” what attitude. There is nothing wrong with that attitude but you have to be smart about it.
Let’s be blunt – you cannot beat yourself up at every single training session.
There are two options you can do when you come across days that you don’t feel your best:
- Rest for the day and come back harder the next workout
- Change up your workout so that it is beneficial and stimulates your body. Remember, you don’t have to hammer your body into the ground every day.
If you want to stay consistent with your training but know you won’t be breaking any PRs, use the workout to work on your technique with lighter loads and accessory movements. Make sure there is still a purpose.
