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Bad days at the gym,

pumpiniron

pumpiniron

New member
U know the days when u feel unmotivated put push urself to go to the gym anyway, My last workout i military pressed 27.5 kilo dumbells for 6 reps and today when i tried i couldnt even get the dumbells up as hard as i pushed. SO anyway i rested a few minutes and i got someone to spot me and i barely got 4 reps pushing my hardest , i thought wtf i feel weak as shit but im not sick or anything but i felt really pissed of and a bit depressed about this and went home. Anyway the point of this blog is should i have kept going even tho im unmotivated and none of my lifts are gonna improve or gone home like i did and rest up for another day? How do u deal with bad days.
 
I have those sorts of days every so often, and I usually just focus on a specific compound movement for that session and than call it quits, for instance on deadlift day if I'm feeling crap I will deadlift only and do no assistance or any other lifting. I don't try to go all out either, maybe 70-80% of normal. Another thing I do is a session of HIIT, usually drag my tire sled, or just do some sprints up the hill outside from my house. Or if I am totally demotivated I go for a nice long walk/stroll and listen to some tunes on the ipod by myself and have a reflection session. I am a much more patient person these days and look at things in the long term, so if i crap out 1 workout, I don't worry about it as much. I also keep a training diary of what I do and how I feel for that day, I keep one on here as well but the one I use at home is much more personal 'for my eyes only' and helps me to see if there is a pattern taking place etc.
In the end mate, as long as you stick at it you will get results, we are not built to give 100% all the time.
 
pumpiniron said:
How do u deal with bad days.
Click to expand...

Lots of answers to that question:

  • I check in about the basic self-care stuff. Have I eaten enough since my last workout? Gotten enough rest? Did I do a good enough warm-up set? In other words, is there something I need to learn about self care?
  • I recognise that I have strong days and weaker days and accept where I'm at.
  • But really, I eventually get pissed off about it - which motivates me.
  • Then I change up what I'd planned for that day. Its infinitely better to get a decent workout at something then go home defeated. Even if I have to turn it into a killer cardio session. Its better than giving up.
 
I had the same thing today, first time this year. Usually train every 2nd day, felt fatigued yesterday ( training day) so put it off till today. Usually wake up at 520. Slept straight through till 730. Weighed in at 1.5kg lighter then usual??
Felt like crap all day.
Was hitting the same weight and reps from last workout but really struggling to get there, then burned out about 3/4 of the way through. Got the shits and got on the treadmill, 2 mins in and thought fuck it.
Been eating more food and trying to get motivation back for the next workout.

I think if it happens again I'm gunna drop the weight by 30-40% and do a high rep workout.

Only thing I can think of is I didn't drink any water yesterday?.. Or I need to eat more since I started squatting lol.
 
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I've had a few home gym workouts that have started very pisspoor. Sometimes I might struggle early on for whatever reason and I feel like bailing after the first 2-3 sets. I've learned to stick with it though and I usually get into the swing of things and complete a solid workout.
 
pumpiniron said:
How do u deal with bad days.
Click to expand...
I deal with it by first appreciating its visit. After that, I begin to analise why it has decided to visit me. And usually the answer goes something like this...

You, I, the pros, and every (intelligent) bodybuilder out there knows fully well why they go to the gym. It's not to get big, but to get small. Yes, you can read that again if you like, there's no typo here. The gym is for destruction of muscles; outside it is for construction of muscles. Inside it we break down muscles; outside it we build muscles.

So what's going on here?

Well, if the gym is the direct catalyst to muscle growth, where is the direct path to muscle growth then? It's in the recovery, that's where it’s at. You go home to recover and grow from what the gym has just broken down. So the message that was given to you today via the visit of that bad day you wrote about was nothing more than to say: "hey buddy, rest me, feed me, and deal with any issue that is bothering your mind."

That was a general diagnosis of your bad day at the gym.


Fadi.
 
Kingburger said:
I think if it happens again I'm gunna drop the weight by 30-40% and do a high rep workout.

Only thing I can think of is I didn't drink any water yesterday?.. Or I need to eat more since I started squatting lol.
Click to expand...

It sounds like your body is not fully recovered when you return to the gym...

The 2 main reasons
  1. Lack of food
  2. Lack of rest
Dropping the weights 30-40% won't change anything if the problem is outside of the gym...

In order to promote quicker body recovery you will need to look at your food and sleep... Need to figure out which one your deficient in.
 
Thanx guys this makes me feel better, this is the first bad day ive had this year so ill get over it lol. Cant wait till monday im coming back for fucking vengance

Im doin everything right. diet is on track, staying consistent so i hope its a while before i have another bad day.
 
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Fadi said:
I deal with it by first appreciating its visit. After that, I begin to analise why it has decided to visit me. And usually the answer goes something like this...

You, I, the pros, and every (intelligent) bodybuilder out there knows fully well why they go to the gym. It's not to get big, but to get small. Yes, you can read that again if you like, there's no typo here. The gym is for destruction of muscles; outside it is for construction of muscles. Inside it we break down muscles; outside it we build muscles.

So what's going on here?

Well, if the gym is the direct catalyst to muscle growth, where is the direct path to muscle growth then? It's in the recovery, that's where it’s at. You go home to recover and grow from what the gym has just broken down. So the message that was given to you today via the visit of that bad day you wrote about was nothing more than to say: "hey buddy, rest me, feed me, and deal with any issue that is bothering your mind."

That was a general diagnosis of your bad day at the gym.


Fadi.
Click to expand...

Well put. I've previously referred to this as the 23:1 principle. Focus on the 23 hrs outside and not the tiny 1 hour inside the gym.
 
wingman said:
Well put. I've previously referred to this as the 23:1 principle. Focus on the 23 hrs outside and not the tiny 1 hour inside the gym.
Click to expand...
Well put also. Thanks to all the contributers for your positive comments.


Fadi.
 
I'm sure everybody has their bad days, I had a couple bad training sessions where being called out to work several nights and the broken sleep and meals took it's toll...I was disappointed at the time but with proper rest and nutrition followed by a great sessions and I soon forgot about it...you'll be right mate!
 
Alcohol is my motivation and performance killer. Last night/yesterday I had 12 beers and even though I had plenty of sleep the last thing I felt like doing was going to the gym.
I still went, but on days like this I just do drop sets to keep myself busy and moving and not give myself time to think.
 
That's over 1000 calories (assuming 345 ml).
Did you take that into account for your overall daily intake? If you did it you would have had to drop some protein and fats which will hinder muscle growth. All in all a bad decision to ingest all tho beers. Also the liver copped a bashing, but won't go there.
 
Shrek said:
That's over 1000 calories (assuming 345 ml).
Did you take that into account for your overall daily intake? If you did it you would have had to drop some protein and fats which will hinder muscle growth. All in all a bad decision to ingest all tho beers. Also the liver copped a bashing, but won't go there.
Click to expand...

I know, it was a moment of weakness of which I'm not proud of. I dare say it won't happen again this year. Except if the sharks wins the nrl premiership which must be at least 100 to 1.
 
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Shrek said:
That's over 1000 calories (assuming 345 ml).
Did you take that into account for your overall daily intake? If you did it you would have had to drop some protein and fats which will hinder muscle growth. All in all a bad decision to ingest all tho beers. Also the liver copped a bashing, but won't go there.
Click to expand...

Unless your are on extremely low calories you can still drink a decent amount and get your protein and fats in for the day.

I don't drink that often but I have hit PBs after almost every drinking session of late. A lot of it is in your head, you have had a few drinks and talk yourself out of pushing hard the next day in the gym.
 
^^ true
I had 3 or 4 beers the night before, then KFC for lunch and still increased my Squat!! :)
 
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