I’m very neurally based lifter; not so much muscle. A bad lift for me and my concentration goes out the door.
I generally drop the plan and do whatever I want - generally have a good day then.
When I was younger, I used to get pretty bent out of shape about a bad day at the gym. It was to the point where a missed lift on a main movement would totally ruin my mood for a few days, maybe even a week. Eventually you realize it’s part of the game though. It doesn’t mean you’re weaker. It doesn’t mean you’ve lost muscle. It just means your body isn’t able to perform the way you want it to on that day. IME, it usually means that your expectations for yourself were unreasonable.
Sometimes I can salvage a bad day by doing something totally different than what I had planned. Other times, I’ll walk out of the gym and go eat McDonald’s or something like a total asshole. Either way, I’ll be back tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that too. So it’s not all that critical how I handle one shitty day.
This is just one of the things you learn from 20+ years of training; that one day, by itself, good or bad, doesn’t matter a whole helluva lot. Coming back from the bad days and getting after it is what matters.
[quote]Steve-O-68 wrote:
What’s more important is “Am I better than last month… last year?” It’s more long term for me now.[/quote]
…
[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
This is just one of the things you learn from 20+ years of training; that one day, by itself, good or bad, doesn’t matter a whole helluva lot. Coming back from the bad days and getting after it is what matters.[/quote]
Wendler once said, “A training day is only one part of a training decade, so just chip away.”
Keeping that kind of looooong-term perspective is definitely a benefit.
[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:
[quote]Steve-O-68 wrote:
What’s more important is “Am I better than last month… last year?” It’s more long term for me now.[/quote]
…
[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
This is just one of the things you learn from 20+ years of training; that one day, by itself, good or bad, doesn’t matter a whole helluva lot. Coming back from the bad days and getting after it is what matters.[/quote]
Wendler once said, “A training day is only one part of a training decade, so just chip away.”
Keeping that kind of looooong-term perspective is definitely a benefit.[/quote]
I did read this couple years ago while just learning to lift. But I have_really_understood the idea much later.
My life is full of everything else besides lifting (work, study, family etc.), so I really can’t spoil my day because of shitty workout. When something goes badly (workout/week/month) I try to figure out what’s wrong and go on.
After having troubles with my hips due to injury and poor rehab, I have struggled with my squats for 6 months now. Sometimes things go so badly ( example having so stressful month that I have put less attention to mobility and training) that I’m actually happy to have at least every other squat workout without proplems.I still have gotten much stronger in this period.
One workout means nothing. And if you don’t have bad workouts occasionally you’re not training hard enough.