By David Freeze
What if your training isn’t going well?
Not seeing results in your efforts toward any health and fitness goal is frustrating, especially if you have been diligently working to get faster, lose weight, gain muscle or work toward any other health-related goal. Before you give up, consider the following areas of concern.
Sleep is our best recovery tool. If you miss out on good and consistent sleep, you could sabotage your results and not even know it. I struggled for years with this one, and oddly after my accident sleep has improved.
My best learned tips include winding down an hour before your projected bedtime. Things not done can be listed to be completed the next day. Stay away from caffeine and eating too much too late. Make your sleeping area comfortable, cool and dark. Put a pad beside bed if you often awake thinking of things to be done. Write them down and go back to sleep. Shoot for eight hours but strive at least for more than you did previously.
Are you working out without food being eaten overnight, first thing in the morning or without a small amount of good carbs, fat and protein 60 minutes before training? You can still train some while in a fasted state, but likely it won’t be fun.
Hydration is key as well. Replacing sweat means you need to add water and electrolytes, or you will see a significant drop in performance during your workout and feel horrible afterward. A good sign of hydration loss is an easily recovered weight loss upon rehydrating.
Make sure you are also eating well after the workout session. You need protein to help your muscles recover, but you also need carbs to rebuild glycogen stores to be ready for the next workout.
Are you working as hard as you had planned each day? Make sure you have a plan, so you don’t wonder what to do next. Sometimes a trainer or coach can help. Technique matters whether you’re running, swimming, lifting or other workouts. A coach can assess your form and technique.
A lower-intensity workout may be the best answer for a day or two. When training hard, there will be a top end limit that will require a rest or cross training. Sometimes as soon as I made it to the end of the driveway early in the morning, I knew it was time for a rest day. Pay attention to a sudden increased heart rate as a good sign of the body needing a rest.
There are good days and bad days when it comes to training. Instead of evaluating your performance daily, consider longer-term periods such as weeks, months or even years. Note the pattern instead of the daily spikes or dips. Keep a journal of how you eat, sleep and train each day. When you have a perfect workout day filled with new personal records and other progress, look back at the previous 24-36 hours, as you may find a blueprint to repeat your performance. When I hit a hot streak, I often mimic what might be working.
Good performances are usually tied to how you slept, ate, hydrated, worked or rested the day prior and how you feel. You may also find what not to do if you have one bad day that makes you question yourself and your routine.
But the best thing to do is to keep at it. I heard a radio pastor last week say something that has settled with me since. We have about 4,000 weeks on earth. Let’s make good use of them.
April 5th brings the West Rowan Bible Teachers Association 5K which is developing as one of the largest 5K’s and Fun Runs in Rowan County in recent years. The race starts and finishes at West Rowan Elementary School. Bible teachers aren’t funded by the state but the proceeds from this event all go to that purpose. The race course arguably might just be the fastest in the county.
Look for this event and others at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org
