Monday, August 3, 2015

Anatomy of a Poor Workout

The giveaway from the "Throw Away Your Scales" article ends on this Friday. Find the article "Throw Away Your Scales" in the right hand column below and enter.



ANATOMY OF A POOR WORKOUT

About 60% of the average person’s workouts are mediocre. About 20% of them you’ll feel like you knocked it out of the park. The other 20% will be sub-par and some of those will really stink!

There are a multitude of factors that affect the success of your workout:

·        Lack of adequate rest
·        What you ate the day before
·        Stress
·        Illness
·        Soreness or minor injuries
·        Distractions at home or work
·        Lack of motivation

My percentages tend to run a little higher on the plus side but sometimes I have a real stinker!

Last Friday was one of the real stinkers!

I was at the gym about two hours earlier than usual due to other commitments later in the day. But I got my eight hours rest, stress levels were fine, no soreness or other pain, a little eye infection but no big deal.

Almost immediately I started missing my rep goals. I’d hit my reps on the first set but miss on the second and third on almost every exercise. And I seemed to need more rest time between sets. And it got worse as time wore on. The entire workout took me over 90 minutes.

I was almost half way through before I realized what was happening. I got up earlier and was not as hungry as usual and was in a hurry so I ate less than usual before my workout.

I ran out of fuel!

In the morning you have basically been fasting for 8 to 10 hours or longer. (That’s why the first meal of the day is called “Break-fast”) Glycogen stores (what your body burns for fuel) are depleted. And I ate less than normal pre-workout.

To make matters worse, Friday was leg day. My program on leg day starts like this: Squats, hack squats, dead lifts, vertical leg press……all at considerably more than my body weight. All burning considerable fuel very quickly. Fuel that I didn’t have.

By the time I got to the easier supporting exercises (lying leg curls, seated calf raises, leg extensions, etc) I was worthless. I usually keep a couple of protein/carb bars in my gym bag for just such emergencies but I had eaten those on the eight hour drive home from visiting my mom and forgot to replace them.

The point is….I saved a little time by skipping some of my normal pre-workout meal then pretty much wasted 90 minutes in the gym and what should have been a good workout.


Send your comments or questions to alphaedgefitness@gmail.com . If I don’t have an answer I’ll find someone who does.






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