Bad Workouts

I had a pretty bad workout today, was working on chest and get my stuff together and got going.  The problem was I never really got going!  I did my exercises I’d planned on but I wasn’t feeling it.  I didn’t get great range of motion, some exercises I didn’t do all the reps I’d planned on, I came in feeling blah and I left feeling blah.

So let’s look at this, I’m sure you’ve had a workout where you felt the same way.  What are the factors that contribute?

Warmup: How was your warm up?  Did you get some stretching and perhaps a bit of cardio to get the muscles warm?

Food: did you eat anything drastically different that would affect your energy levels from a normal “good” workout?

Sleep: are you getting enough?  For me this is probably the culprit but I can blame it on my 3 month old.

Stress: do you have anything new at home or work or school that’s weighting down on you? 

Other: Has anything else changed from a typical workout?  I forgot my MP3 player and gloves, I don’t know about the gloves but the music definitely helps me.

These things will all contribute to you having a less than stellar workout.  Adjust these environmental factors until you get to a point where you feel your workout quality improves.  This will not only help you with your workout but also see what your body’s going to do you during non-workout a situation that is your workout may have a tendency to magnify issues that you are experiencing.  For example, during a workout you may aggravate a sickness a day or two before it really hits you.