![]() You didn't warm up - you did an exercise physically and mentally cold/unprepared.You were dealing with aches, pains or minor injuries.You were sick or not feeling well (cold, headache, stomachache, etc).Your head just wasn't in it, for no particular reason (physically you might have been fine, but mentally you weren't there.You were dealing with personal, relationship or career problems, which distracted you.Your stress levels were higher than normal or not balanced with rest and recovery.Your nutrition quality or quantity dropped (Inadequate fueling).Your sleep quality or quantity dropped.Bad days can be caused for many reasons, including: ![]() The next thing you should do is to learn what causes those occasional dips in performance. Reasons For Occasional Bad Days In The Gym Pat yourself on the back because you showed up (plenty of people skipped the gym completely!) That's why the first thing you should do is look at your progress trend over time and not worry as much about isolated down days. What happens consistently over time is what matters. What happens occasionally is not important. One bad performance can ruin your day (or whole week) and you may leave the gym feeling dejected. Progressive overload is important, but if you're focused on lifting more weight to the point of obsessing over it every day, it could work against you psychologically. Your nutrition is not going to be perfect 100% of the time and neither is your training. There's no sense in beating yourself up or getting mad about it, you simply remind yourself that one meal or even one whole day that wasn't on track is no big deal, and get back on track with your next meal. It's similar to what happens if you have a bad day on your diet. Go home, relax, eat well, get a great nights sleep, and get back to it next time. Shrug it off and focus on the next workout. If it happens only occasionally, you should simply accept it as part of the journey. The First Thing To Do When You Have A Bad DayĮveryone has off days, which might mean lower strength, less energy, or you simply feel off mentally (no motivation). I'll explain how in just a minute, but first let me share what to do first if your performance is off for one day, and why it might happen. But there's always a way to make some kind of progress at every workout. Granted, you might not be able to lift more weight, and that's okay - it's normal, and happens to all of us. My contention is that if you fully understand the progressive overload training system, it's possible to never have a "bad" day in the gym. ![]() However, I've never talked about it in the context of progressive overload training, so I'm glad you asked this because I have some new ideas to share. I understand that, but what if you have a bad day in the gym and you actually go backwards? What if your reps drop off or worse, you can't even lift as much as last time? What should you do if you got weaker?Ī: I've written about this subject before - what to do when you have a bad day and why it happens. You talked about how the number one key to muscle growth is progressive overload, but that we shouldn't expect to make weight progression at every workout. The new FAQ section is incredibly thorough, but I do have a question that I didn't see answered. Q: Hi Tom, I just read your updated second edition of the Ultimate progressive overload manual.
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