No Strength Today

Have you guys every gone to the gym and had no strength? Today is normally my rest day. I went to train today because I have a lot going on the next day and I was afraid I might not get it in. I always train in morning. I woke up and felt pretty fired up for my deadlift workout. When I got there I felt tired and I had no strength. I could not pull weights I normally have little problem with. I was supposed to pull three reps on my top set. I struggled for one.

I ended up pushing on and got done what I could do. My question is: Is that the correct thing to do? Or should I have bagged it and tried again next week?

For the record I am not currently training for a meet. I do not expect to compete again until next Spring. Its been a long time since I have had an issue like this.

I feel your pain man, only with me it’s beemn about a 2 month drag ass session. I just don’t give a fuck anymore about lifting anything other than my ass off the couch somedays. I blame it on the heat. lol.

But to answer your question… if every day was a great day, there would be no such thing as bad days…you’ll get it next time.

yesterday I did deadlifts and couldn’t get more of a double on weight i can usually do sets of 5 with. Stress can really effect your lifts, for example I am in the middle of exams right now

My $.02. You did the right thing to push and do what you could. IM(humble)O that does two things: it gives you confidence in the numbers you did do, because now you OWN that weight knowing you did it on your worst day; it also gets you accustomed to working hard even when things aren’t optimal. That may be a handy piece of experience at a meet at some point in time.

[quote]Dr J wrote:
My $.02. You did the right thing to push and do what you could. IM(humble)O that does two things: it gives you confidence in the numbers you did do, because now you OWN that weight knowing you did it on your worst day; it also gets you accustomed to working hard even when things aren’t optimal. That may be a handy piece of experience at a meet at some point in time.[/quote]

agreed. hitting target reps for a given weight on a bad day is just a less rewarding than hitting a pr on a great day, but rewarding nonetheless. You’re bound to have more bad days than great days, at least in my experience.

I’m going to quote Paul Carter here and say that most of your training career will have into a 80/10/10 breakdown. 80% of your training sessions are pretty average. 10% are incredible, Smash Fucking Weight days. And 10% just plain suck. The important thing is to take it in stride and realize that getting strong is a marathon, not a sprint.

Thsnks guys. Good words of wisdom all around.

stress has a lot to do with it. if you were worried about the next day, could be it. what is your diet like? could be that. also, if you are like me, and work in a non AC gym, i intake some salt water before lifting. i know if i skip it as im dry heaving in 10 minutes of the session from dehydration and such.

but like others say, chalk it up as a learning day. and murder the weights next week.

I really like that 80/10/10 philosophy, it seems spot on.

OP, it happens. Like everyone else said good on ya for getting in and doing work, even if it wasn’t what you’d hoped it would be.

[quote]Crippler56 wrote:
Have you guys every gone to the gym and had no strength? Today is normally my rest day. I went to train today because I have a lot going on the next day and I was afraid I might not get it in. I always train in morning. I woke up and felt pretty fired up for my deadlift workout. When I got there I felt tired and I had no strength. I could not pull weights I normally have little problem with. I was supposed to pull three reps on my top set. I struggled for one.

I ended up pushing on and got done what I could do. My question is: Is that the correct thing to do? Or should I have bagged it and tried again next week?

For the record I am not currently training for a meet. I do not expect to compete again until next Spring. Its been a long time since I have had an issue like this. [/quote]

You had a bad day every body has one every now and then. Erase this from your mind.

its really dehydration. As soon as you wake up before you eat anything just drink a whole lot of water. dehydration will fuck you in the arse so hard and you literally will just feel like shit for your entire workout

[quote]Crippler56 wrote:
Have you guys every gone to the gym and had no strength? Today is normally my rest day. I went to train today because I have a lot going on the next day and I was afraid I might not get it in. I always train in morning. I woke up and felt pretty fired up for my deadlift workout. When I got there I felt tired and I had no strength. I could not pull weights I normally have little problem with. I was supposed to pull three reps on my top set. I struggled for one.

I ended up pushing on and got done what I could do. My question is: Is that the correct thing to do? Or should I have bagged it and tried again next week?

For the record I am not currently training for a meet. I do not expect to compete again until next Spring. Its been a long time since I have had an issue like this. [/quote]

They say deadlifts done heavy take about 2 weeks to recover from. That’s how deadlifting is. i recall while training for my most recent meet i hit 455x3 easily and the next week couldn’t get it off the floor. just check your nutrition, training and rest. just make sure your not over training your deadlift. i did that as a beginner and made little progress. If its not that than i’m sure it’s just an isolated incident and won’t carry over to the next workout.