When Your Mind Says Yes But Your Body Says No.
I think we all have those days. Sometimes you wake up excited to head out to train/play, you head out the door and all systems say NO!!!! This is demoralizing and can set the tone for a rough workout. When this happens, remember, you are not alone! If your body is just grumpy you can either turn it into an easy workout or go home and rest. There are many different reasons this can happen including no reason at all! Let’s go over what to analyze when you have one of those days.
One of the first things to analyze is your nutrition over the past week. Have you been eating enough food and more importantly are you hitting your macros. If you have been under fueling it can affect your recovery and cause significant fatigue and muscle soreness. It can take a day or two to recover from a nutritional deficit. Make sure you are eating enough protein, carbohydrates, and yes, fat too!
Hydration can affect the way you feel and your recovery. If you have not been drinking enough water your body will feel sluggish and your muscles can hurt. Your body is composed of 60-80% water! Having a daily electrolyte, especially in hot climates or after a workout can help you recover faster and feel better.
Sleep can affect your performance. If you have had trouble sleeping, even if only one night, it can affect the way you feel. Sleep is when most of the magic happens! When you sleep your body rebuilds damaged cells and flushes out lactic acid. Your body needs to go through several sleep cycles to provide physical and emotional recovery. A good night of sleep can make a very big difference!
Stress is something that we all experience at different times in our lives. If you are under stress your body will struggle to get through your workouts. Stress delays recovery and causes significant fatigue. You may even find that stress can decrease your motivation and make your body feel like it has just done speed work. Practicing mindfulness can help reduce your stress levels.
Increasing your mileage or intensity will create muscle fatigue and can cause you to feel sluggish the next day. Taking it easy after a hard effort or a big training week will allow your body to recover and come back stronger! Getting in plenty of zone 2 workouts will help you feel better on your harder days.
Weather plays a large role in how we feel on our outdoor workouts. Heat and humidity will cause you to feel sluggish or get dehydrated. Cold temperatures can make your muscles cranky. Precipitation can affect your mood or make terrain slippery which can emotionally wear you down. Be sure to dress comfortably for the weather and hydrate/fuel based on how much you are sweating.
Sometimes there is no notable reason for feeling sluggish, winded or just crummy during a workout. Our bodies might be telling us that we are fighting a bug or dealing with an underlying issue. Seasonal allergies, food intolerances or environmental conditions can affect how you feel due to inflammation in the body.
When you have one of those days go easy on yourself. If you know why you feel that way it is easy to fix. If it is just a random off day appreciate what your body was able to do and remember your next workout might be better! If you are feeling sluggish or fatigued for several days in a row you may be overtrained. Your body will try to force you to take some down time. Feeling junky for more than 3 days in a row is a sign that you might just need an extra rest day. We sometimes need to take an extra rest day and have a very low key week of training. If you can’t seem to recover after taking an extra day off and having an easy week you may want to see a doctor and have blood work to check for any issues. It can be as simple as a vitamin deficiency. Having annual bloodwork will give you a base line and if you are feeling off, it will provide a comparison to see if there have been changes.