weak at the gym

[kenhorse]

i hate days like today, way off on lifts, i worked my guts out but felt like i just did not have it today. worked up to a triple on flat bench but barely got #3 up. had to drop my dumbbell inclines down 5 lbs on my work sets. but i soldiered on best i could. what do you guys do on days like this? well i will suck it up and try harder tomorrow

[flatiron]

I think we all have workouts like that. Dan John calls it the Rule of Five. In any five workout span, you'll have one great workout, one terrible workout, and three punch-the-clock workouts. It's not really that clean of course, but the point is everybody has days that just don't feel right at all. If it's really bad, I don't have a problem with just folding up and calling it quits for the day. I kind of worry that if things really feel that off that I might end up tweaking something. I just make sure that my resolve is all the stronger next time and that I don't hit the eject button very often.

[mslman71]

i hate days like today, way off on lifts, i worked my guts out but felt like i just did not have it today. worked up to a triple on flat bench but barely got #3 up. had to drop my dumbbell inclines down 5 lbs on my work sets. but i soldiered on best i could. what do you guys do on days like this? well i will suck it up and try harder tomorrow

Maybe because it's been a hundred billion f'in degrees here this past week (and will continue)!

[Tifflex]

i hate days like today, way off on lifts, i worked my guts out but felt like i just did not have it today. worked up to a triple on flat bench but barely got #3 up. had to drop my dumbbell inclines down 5 lbs on my work sets. but i soldiered on best i could. what do you guys do on days like this? well i will suck it up and try harder tomorrow

Get over it and prepare for the next training session. If it continues, check your nutrition, sleep, stress levels, etc.

[AssassinCrazy]

i hate days like today, way off on lifts, i worked my guts out but felt like i just did not have it today. worked up to a triple on flat bench but barely got #3 up. had to drop my dumbbell inclines down 5 lbs on my work sets. but i soldiered on best i could. what do you guys do on days like this? well i will suck it up and try harder tomorrow

We all been there man. It happens. Make sure you eat correct, get your carbs in and take care of business next lift session

[Whiskeyjack]

We all been there man. It happens. Make sure you eat correct, get your carbs in and take care of business next lift session

Yeah that's true.

I had such a day at the gym yesterday.

[deor12]

We rarely progress in linear fashion for any extended period of time, and numerous variables can negatively impact any given workout: stress, food, insufficient recovery, stale programs, ill-timed supplements...the list goes on.

When I find myself just not feeling it, I usually don't abandon the session, nor do I just slog through it. Instead, I'll improvise an entirely different workout targeting the day's muscle groups.

Example: your plan called for military presses, but you sub for them with all the flavors of laterals you can think of, and perhaps raise the intensity by prolonging your time under tension or supersetting bent flyes with front raises and steering wheels.

I often find that I really get into the improvised session to the point that, in retrospect, it became a great workout.

[chodan9]

If you every hear someone say "I never have an off day!" or "All my workouts are great!" you have just heard someone either lying to you or lying to themselves.

[HoustonTXMuscle]

Not that it'll help, but today was also my worst Leg day ever despite it being 1 of the 2 hi carb cycling days. Gym all to myself so I had free reign of the racks and machines. In contrast, yesterday was a PB day all around for Chest & Bi. Excuses, no. But am sure that getting my Bod Pod measurements this morning, aside from being totally demoralizing sent me into a "To he11 with this mind-set."

[DubfromGA]

Get over it and prepare for the next training session. If it continues, check your nutrition, sleep, stress levels, etc.

Yep!

[fn257]

I have those days occasionally myself, emotionally hard to deal with but it's just a bump in the road and not a big thing usually. When I find myself bombing out on my "regularly scheduled workout" I will make a change quickly. Lots of times I will jump to the machines, drop my weight and do high reps. Then take the next day off from the iron, do some cardio, biking, walking etc......get your mind right and jump back into it. Most of the time it is fatigue for me but it could be the things mentioned previously. Sometimes stress will take the edge off of you, I know that my situation sometimes gets me down and I just have to refocus. Good news is you are old enough, intelligent enough, and motivated enough to just recover and blow and go! No harm no foul. Now get after it you old fart.

[azstrengthcoach]

Nobody has an awesome session at the gym every time, it happens to all of us. Remember man it's a journey not a destination, just do your best each day and enjoy the ride.

[kenhorse]

I have those days occasionally myself, emotionally hard to deal with but it's just a bump in the road and not a big thing usually. When I find myself bombing out on my "regularly scheduled workout" I will make a change quickly. Lots of times I will jump to the machines, drop my weight and do high reps. Then take the next day off from the iron, do some cardio, biking, walking etc......get your mind right and jump back into it. Most of the time it is fatigue for me but it could be the things mentioned previously. Sometimes stress will take the edge off of you, I know that my situation sometimes gets me down and I just have to refocus. Good news is you are old enough, intelligent enough, and motivated enough to just recover and blow and go! No harm no foul. No get after it you old fart.

lol i am on it

[pharmamarketer]

i hate days like today, way off on lifts, i worked my guts out but felt like i just did not have it today. worked up to a triple on flat bench but barely got #3 up. had to drop my dumbbell inclines down 5 lbs on my work sets. but i soldiered on best i could. what do you guys do on days like this? well i will suck it up and try harder tomorrow

I think you said it. I "soldier" thru it. I was not a soldier so I feel funny saying it but I agree with the point. Get it done and move on. Like Tifflex said, just keep your eye on it

[flatiron]

If you every hear someone say "I never have an off day!" or "All my workouts are great!" you have just heard someone either lying to you or lying to themselves.

Or someone who doesn't know how to put the work into workout.

[JerryB]

i hate days like today, way off on lifts, i worked my guts out but felt like i just did not have it today. worked up to a triple on flat bench but barely got #3 up. had to drop my dumbbell inclines down 5 lbs on my work sets. but i soldiered on best i could. what do you guys do on days like this? well i will suck it up and try harder tomorrow

We seem to forget we are humans subject to diminishing returns if we don't take the proper procedures to recover. When my poundage goes down I adjust by easing up on the poundage to regroup.

[paolo59]

Every day is peculiar, and what goes on inbetween your ears is a direct result of that day! That can often translate into a good, or a bad workout in the gym. Ha. I've had days, a couple of years back, when I would literally cry inbetween sets. I lifted, talked, and tried to hash through death, a suicide, family torn all up, and wondering just what the freakin' hell was going on! But I was in the gym! It kept my sanity in tact. I imagine it was a little more difficult for my trainer back then than it was for me! I respect and honor the brother for having the patience and understanding to deal with it!

There are 365 days in a year. Once in awhile, you just might have an 'off' workout session! I've learned to get through those little 'glitches' in the road. There's always tomorrow's workout. And it's always better...well almost always!

[2nd_chance]

In any five workout span, you'll have one great workout, one terrible workout, and three punch-the-clock workouts.

Really??? I'm glad that my rate is better than 1 for 5.

OP, you did the right thing... just grind it out.

[2nd_chance]

If you every hear someone say "I never have an off day!" or "All my workouts are great!" you have just heard someone either lying to you or lying to themselves.

Well I certainly can't say that I'm at 100% but it's pretty close. I guess it depends on your goal. My goal is not numbers based, but effort based. Just feeling the iron in my hand makes it a great workout. I don't have to set PRs every time to be satisfied.

[2nd_chance]

I once had a bad workout... just to know what it felt like.

Stay thirsty my friends.

[paolo59]

I once had a bad workout... just to know what it felt like.

Stay thirsty my friends.

LOL I just figure that if I'm in the gym, hitting it, it's better than if I weren't! Even if I might feel a 'bit off' on a given day. It's all good!

[bigtallox]

what do you guys do on days like this?

I've learned that effort is effort. I don't focus on what my lifts are for any given day. Training certain lifts/events negatively impacts other lifts for me all the time. But that doesn't matter, you exert effort based on what you can do that session, and in the long term you progress. For example last events training day, we did heavy yoke walks followed by log clean and press. For nationals I need to walk a 750 pound yoke 60 feet, my current max is 700, so I've been hitting the yoke hard lately, really hard, and it's an event that typically drains everything I have out of me. So of course when we went to log press, what I could do that day is way off from my max. It doesn't matter, I focus on doing as much as I can for that session, and next time I press the log fresh my max will be improved. It happens all the time, I've learned that it's meaningless and I no longer focus on my feelings when my body isn't 100%. Good luck.

[Marius_Ursus]

i hate days like today, way off on lifts, i worked my guts out but felt like i just did not have it today. worked up to a triple on flat bench but barely got #3 up. had to drop my dumbbell inclines down 5 lbs on my work sets. but i soldiered on best i could. what do you guys do on days like this? well i will suck it up and try harder tomorrow

As someone recently told me when I was bellyaching about my bench press progress, "Eat some sand and kill it tomorrow."

[Whiskeyjack]

"Eat some sand"

...

...is a better approach than pounding some sand.

[ironwill2008]

... what do you guys do on days like this?

If it's only one sub-optimal session, I'll just walk away; stuff happens.


If I see a trend developing, I'll figure out the cause, form a plan to correct it, and move on.

..... numbers based...

..... effort based.

I place myself somewhere in the middle of ^^^^these two training objectives. If I'm able to nudge the number(s) up a hair, that's good. If I can't, or if I've taken a step backwards, as long as I know I worked to my capacity, it's still good.


Progress doesn't always make itself apparent in just the raw numbers.

[kenhorse]

good work day today back to normal

[chodan9]

Just feeling the iron in my hand makes it a great workout. I don't have to set PRs every time to be satisfied.

cant say I disagree.
I count it a productive day by just showing up. My workouts may not always go the way I think they should. But 99 times out of 100 I don't regret going.

[MikeBuyco]

good work day today back to normal

Good to hear that OP.

I had one last week. I had to lower the lbs but I increase the number of reps when I have those kind of days.