This is completely subjective, but what signs make you decide sleep is going to be better than a workout? Sleeping in, taking a nap, going to bed earlier, etc.
And in a healthy way that makes you feel progress, not just “I’m burnt out.”
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If I wake up for the workout, get all the way downstairs, pee and still think to myself “I want to get back to sleep”, that’s a sign that it’s time for me to sleep.
Typically, when I wake up for the workout, I don’t want to do it, and I think to myself “Do I have any ability to do this later today” or “Do I have anything going on today where I NEED to have more sleep?”, but these are just the typical invasive thoughts trying to keep me in bed. Once I get out of bed, the machine is turned on and ready to roll. So if I somehow overcome that and go through all the “get ready” rituals and my mind is still saying “get back to sleep”…I get back to sleep.
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Since i never train first thing in the morning i can’t answer. But since i have some leeway based on how i have my days scheduled. If i know a session will be a shit show due to what ever reason. I have no issue with bumping it to the next day.
I never felt that I had a good feeling on how I felt when I had scheduled to workout. I had a planned program that I adhered to regardless of how I felt. There were times that I felt bad, yet exceeded my daily goals. And conversely, there were times when I felt great, yet performed poorly. The point is that how I felt was of zero value.
What I did do is planned my workouts in advance based on what I felt was the best program. Much of the planning resulted from how effective I felt the last program performed as in application of Shewhart’s PDCA. PDCA was critical for contest prep method that I used.
. I had a planned program that I adhered to regardless of how I felt. There were times that I felt bad, yet exceeded my daily goals. And conversely, there were times when I felt great, yet performed poorly. The point is that how I felt was of zero value.
Are you including illness in this?
Sometimes i just know when my body needs more rest. For me, it usually feels like my body is raw like an exposed nerve.
If i take yesterday as an example, i woke up after 4 shitty hours of sleep and decided not to train… even if I’d gone, I’m just digging myself into a deeper hole.
If i decide to go train on very little sleep anyways, the best way to know if it was a good idea is to gauge performance… did i regress since last time i tried this lift? If the answer is “yes” to multiple lifts for that day, i should have slept.
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If I was well enough to get out of bed, I felt that I was well enough to workout. If the illness was a head cold, my strength was still there. If the illness turned out to be a flu which also came with a fever, my strength dropped significantly. I stopped working out and went to bed.
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That’s typically the case for me as well. If I feel like I need more sleep, it’s often a sign that I’m ill.
100% comes down to a quick system check when I wake up. If I stand up and my back hurts, legs are sore, shoulder/elbows ache, I won’t workout. However, I used to go back to sleep when this happens. Now, I jump in ice bath, sauna, hit leg compression sleeves, vibration board or go for a walk.
The only time I stay in bed is if I didn’t sleep well that night. I go to bed around 10/1030 and get up at 545. Last night, my baby was up from 1-3 and I’m already pretty achy, so slept until 645. If I wake up at 545 and I’m just tired, tough luck, I’ll get up and sit in 36F water to wake me up.
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If I haven’t lifted today, I always lift before I sleep.
A few times I’ve been so tired I was ready to literally fall asleep during my warm ups (happened recently).
I gutted through my lifting, found a way to hit a PR.
As soon as I was done recovering from the set I layed on the floor and passed out for about an hour. Got up, ate some protein went to bed. Felt fine the next day.
If my legs or any other part of my body (but mainly my legs) hurt, then I sometimes decide to take more rest or “sleep” instead of working out. And by “hurt” I’m not referring to soreness, but more so a dull achy feeling when I’m just sitting or lying down, not even moving.
Not trying to stir up the water here, but sometimes - and sometimes, not all the time - I think there’s value to working out even if you think resting might be better for progress. And this is because you can then kind of gauge what your body is capable of and what it isn’t, as well as how good you can recover. Because if you only workout on the days where you’re feeling at or above average in terms of energy levels, then you’re not giving yourself the opportunity to see how your body performs when the odds aren’t really in your favor (such as in scenarios where you have below average energy levels).
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I skip workouts only when sick or extremely exhausted (which are usually connected as others have pointed out).
If I train at morning, it’s usually when I’m cycling to work (the gym is on the route). So if I’m capable of cycling and going to work, I can probably train too.
I get this specially when I’ve been doing squats/deads etc. and I’m sitting for a long periods. So if I’m too tired to train and have been doing “legs”, I try to walk or stand more.
This is a really great question. I don’t think I really have anything formulaic. I tend to err on the side of just get up and go. There have been a couple times when I’ve driven all the way to the gym and then still didn’t want to go in and/ or warmup sets felt awful. If it’s still not working by that point, I usually take it as a sign it’s not the day. It’s usually too late to go back to sleep if I make it that far, though, so I’m probably not helping myself anyway.
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If I am too fatigued to work out I will skip the session but, I never sleep in. I may go to bed earlier if I am tired but, I get up at the same time. Sleeping in will mess with your sleep schedule/circadian rhythm.
I’ve never been a morning workout person. Albeit I am up at 4-5am most mornings. I prefer a lunch time workout followed by a short nap if possible. I’m too vain to skip a workout for sleep.
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Thank you @Dani_Shugart for the eerily accurate picture of my wife.
It’s great when people share habits and drives (this thread has already been very interesting,) but this wasn’t a question about missing workouts or interrupting your sleep schedule. It’s about when sleep feels substantial enough to be relevant.
You’re welcome. I used your words for this pic. We take non-political high engagement conversations and promote them on social media.
But in order to get more eyes on it, we have to put pictures in the OP. If this isn’t what you’re going for, feel free to use an image you think is better.
I was just being sassy, no criticism intended.
It’s an excuse to not train. I always feel tired when waking at 0300 but typically my ten minute warm up snaps me out of it.
My personal rule is that if I do warmup sets and still feel like going back to bed, then I go back to sleep.
Luckily (or unluckily), I haven’t had to implement this yet
Every time, I feel much less sleepy after starting workout and there seems to be studies showing that exercise can mitigate the effects of sleep deprivation.
Caveat is that I consistently get 6-8 hours/night of somewhat shittt sleep with a night of 4-5 maybe once every 2 months or so