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How do you decide whether to work out or rest when you are tired?
For instance I work 12 hr shifts and am trying to decide whether to stop at gym and do legs/biceps or go on home and rest. It's Wednesday and yesterday before work (0530am) I did back/shoulders.
Just wondering if most people go in and do the work when tired and may not get the quality you want or do you wait until you are rested and know you have full energy. Thoughts?
[QUOTE=tankbird;448174411]How do you decide whether to work out or rest when you are tired?
For instance I work 12 hr shifts and am trying to decide whether to stop at gym and do legs/biceps or go on home and rest. It's Wednesday and yesterday before work (0530am) I did back/shoulders.
Just wondering if most people go in and do the work when tired and may not get the quality you want or do you wait until you are rested and know you have full energy. Thoughts?[/QUOTE]
Honestly it varies. Sometimes just showing up there causes you to try and do a lil something, and you may get a 2nd wind. There are other times when it turns out to be a crap workout and you wonder why you even showed up. This is very individual so try both.
[QUOTE=tankbird;448174411]How do you decide whether to work out or rest when you are tired?
For instance I work 12 hr shifts and am trying to decide whether to stop at gym and do legs/biceps or go on home and rest. It's Wednesday and yesterday before work (0530am) I did back/shoulders.
Just wondering if most people go in and do the work when tired and may not get the quality you want or do you wait until you are rested and know you have full energy. Thoughts?[/QUOTE]
Simple answer - being tired is NEVER an excuse.
Even if the w/out turns out to be less than the best - use it as what I like to call a "mental workout".
See the "fatigue" you were feeling as a measure of your mettle. A test of your toughness. What you're willing to do to reach your goals.
Trust me - every time you beat the lethargy blues...or "family commitments"....or "its too late to go" or any other lame excuse - every time you beat that - you're a stronger, more committed, more focussed BB and far less likely to give into the lameness of being......
So tell me....still feeling "too tired"????
Sometimes time isn't your friend. That being said, I wouldn't skip a workout because I thought I was tired. I work 14hr days.
OP--how many days/week do you work the 12hr/day? I would prob skip the workout but it just depends on how wore out you are at the end of the day.
[QUOTE=tankbird;448174411]How do you decide whether to work out or rest when you are tired?
[/QUOTE]
You already made that decision when you decided on the routine that you're currently using. When it's a training day, train.
[QUOTE=tankbird;448174411]
Just wondering if most people go in and do the work when tired and may not get the quality you want or do you wait until you are rested and know you have full energy. Thoughts?[/QUOTE]
If you waited till you were rested and at full energy then you'd probably only lift once or twice a week. If it's a training day then go train. No excuses. You are never going to get gains if you stay home, because you are too tired.
Simply put, even a bad day at the gym is better than not going at all.
When I'm tired I still do the workout - sometimes it's not the best and other times I'm shocked with the success. Endurance is part of the battle with the iron and being tired is a way to prove to yourself that you can still manipulate that iron in proper form and that your body must adapt.
[QUOTE=yakabebe;448188311]Simple answer - being tired is NEVER an excuse.
Even if the w/out turns out to be less than the best - use it as what I like to call a "mental workout".
See the "fatigue" you were feeling as a measure of your mettle. A test of your toughness. What you're willing to do to reach your goals.
Trust me - every time you beat the lethargy blues...or "family commitments"....or "its too late to go" or any other lame excuse - every time you beat that - you're a stronger, more committed, more focussed BB and far less likely to give into the lameness of being......
So tell me....still feeling "too tired"????[/QUOTE]
I have to agree with this, whole heartedly. ;)
[QUOTE=thepainter5;448224241]I have to agree with this, whole heartedly. ;)[/QUOTE]
Have to say - having thought about it a while - in fact - the ONLY reason I would never miss a train is due to "feeling tired".
I mean...really...when ya think of it - it is precisely that
*temptation to quit,
*to not give it your all,
*to take a shortcut,
*to convince yourself it aint all that important
*who's gonna know
that rears its ugly head at the end of EVERY SET that you do. When that last rep demands you DO IT - how tempting is it to say "Nah....aint got enough energy".
F$%ck that----challenge yourself - fail if you must but for pete's sake....at least go down swingin'!!!!
[QUOTE=ironwill2008;448204501]You already made that decision when you decided on the routine that you're currently using. When it's a training day, train.[/QUOTE]
That pretty much sums it up.
I never miss a workout because I'm "tired". Get in their and start lifting and you wont be tired anymore. I've had some of my best workouts when I wasn't feeling that great before I got to the gym.
I am lucky enough to have an office job (thanks to going back to school at age 27 for 14 years) but when I first started training in my early twenties I lifted boxes for a living. I would lift boxes from 7am to 3pm every day, then go home and shower and go to they gym.
There were lots of days I didn't feel like lifting any more, but I went anyway.
That being said I didn't work 12 hour shifts. But how strenuous is your job? And what are you eating to get through the shift? I ate nonstop. I brought a personal cooler to work with me every day filled with tuna, pasta, egg whites, chick peas, chicken, pasta, yogurt, etc.).
-=FLEX=-
[QUOTE=yakabebe;448226231]Have to say - having thought about it a while - in fact - the ONLY reason I would never miss a train is due to "feeling tired".
I mean...really...when ya think of it - it is precisely that
*temptation to quit,
*to not give it your all,
*to take a shortcut,
*to convince yourself it aint all that important
*who's gonna know
that rears its ugly head at the end of EVERY SET that you do. When that last rep demands you DO IT - how tempting is it to say "Nah....aint got enough energy".
[b]F$%ck that----challenge yourself - fail if you must but for pete's sake....at least go down swingin'!!!![/b][/QUOTE]It is your last line that shows a man's mettle and makes the difference between a winner and a champion. ;)
I agree with the majority of the folks here. Even when I'm tired, I'll at least try to work out. Luckily now though, I don't have to worry about going to a gym since i have some workout equipment at home. If i ever do miss a morning workout though, I have a fitness center at work I can go to during the lunch hour.
I've trained after being awake for over 30 hours more than a few times and had good workouts. Being tired is never an excuse. I'm tired almost every day. Get in there, have a good meal after, then hit the sack. You'll be a better man for it.
[QUOTE=yakabebe;448226231]
*temptation to quit,
*to not give it your all,
*to take a shortcut,
*to convince yourself it aint all that important
*who's gonna know
[/QUOTE]
When I don't have much sleep and I have a grueling day at work I definitely start having those thoughts about the trip to the gym that looms later that night. I never listen to them and I always feel great when I leave the gym. It kind of amazes me that I still have thoughts like that. You would think that I wouldn't anymore but that's not how it works with me.
I know how you feel. I worked eight hours today, went home and ate hung out with the wife and kids for a min, went to the gym and distroyed my legs got back home changed and am right here at work again for a few more hours. Whenever I feel that I am to tierd to to get my session in I just Remember....... I'll get plenty of rest when I'm dead, just sayin.
[QUOTE=Gjudas;448310181]I know how you feel. I worked eight hours today, went home and ate hung out with the wife and kids for a min, went to the gym and distroyed my legs got back home changed and am right here at work again for a few more hours. Whenever I feel that I am to tierd to to get my session in I just Remember....... I'll get plenty of rest when I'm dead, just sayin.[/QUOTE]
That paradox right there - that "I'm too tired" and "I'll do it anyway" resulting tin not a collapse but an energizing reaction.
Exercise can absolutely give you energy - not the other way round
I have worked twelve hour shifts for almost twenty years now and I can honestly tell you "Go to the gym!". Some of my best workouts have come off a twelve hour midnight shift when I thought the workout would suck. If it is a planned workout day go and do the best you can somedays the workouts will be good and somedays they will be what I call maintain days but at least you go and stay on schedule.
Simply put, there are "NO EXCUSES" not to train!
It is the next morning. Thanks for the input. I agree with all of what is said. It just helps to hear it from other people.
I worked legs and biceps. Had a pretty good workout. Maybe below what I would like but pretty good.
My thinking is also any workout is better than no workout. My workout days are flexible is the reason it isn't necessarily a training day. I have a fluid schedule and get each bodypart at least once and some weeks twice per week.
Half the fun is making yourself do what you would rather not do and the satisfaction of having the discipline and mental toughness to get it done. Consistently.
i worked 12 hour night and day shifts on a 4 x 4 for a few years (around 15 years ago). its a tough shift i could never get use to but i never used being tired as an excuse not to train if i was scheduled to. sometimes it was though especially on night shift. like i said, it was many years ago and i probably over trained a lot. who knows what i would do now. i would ask myself, why am i tired, from work? from working out? both? if i was just tired from work i would go. i guess if i had at least 2 muscle groups sore and i was tired i may take a day off to recover. i guess this is another case of “listen to your body”.
When I'm tired...which is every freakin day....I drive for a large LTL trucking company and usually do 14 to 16 hours a day four days a week with a short night on the dock. My workouts revolve around the weekend which is when I usually eat more anyways.....
My point for responding is....I use supplementation for my pre-workout tiredness...usually workout 1 hour after getting up....2 oz of special k protein plus with 6 oz fat free milk and a banana.....AND...here goes.....was using superpump250....now I am using anabolic rush by ast for my deficient energy needs.....all is good.....my workouts are 90 minutes and 20 minutes of intervals on the tread mill......energize.....you could use a couple of "stay awakes" from wal-mart or a big cup of coffee....at our age ya need that little extra.