Every athlete knows this scenario.  You head out the door for your workout & within 15-30’ish minutes you know…you know whether it’s going to be an awesome workout, a good workout or just a meh workout.  As a coach I wish my athletes could have awesome workouts every time.  As an athlete I wish I could have awesome workouts every time.  But, alas, 100% great workouts are simply not realistic.  Life happens & it can dramatically affect how our workouts feel.  That said however, I do believe that athletes should expect the majority of workouts to fall into the “good” category.  In listening to some athletes though…I suspect that most of their workouts are meh or potentially even bad.  And just like all workouts can’t be awesome, all workouts shouldn’t be bad either.  So, this is why I recommend that athletes celebrate awesome, expect good & question meh.

Celebrate Awesome!

When you experience an amazing workout, by all means, celebrate the heck out of it!  Those workouts when we feel like we could go forever, when everything feels smooth & when our heart rates stay low & slow are a function of everything lining up in just the right way.  Enjoy it!  Revel in it!  And then look for the reasons why.  Many athletes feel like these workouts are random & coincidental.  But, if you dig a bit, my guess is that you’ll find that:

• your sleep was great
• your mental state was positive
• you had a light day or a day off prior
• your nutrition/hydration was on point
• your metrics (average resting HR, heart rate variability, ave body temp, etc) were all were spot on.

It’s no surprise that when the body is given everything it needs it will reward you with amazing workouts.  This concept is well-worth remembering!

Expect Good

Good, solid workouts…the backbone of any training program & ideally, the majority of an athlete’s workouts.  These workouts won’t feel as “easy” or “effortless” as those awesome ones…but they do feel successful.  These are the workouts where you:

• are mentally focused & engaged
• are challenged just enough to require a bit of fortitude
• are pain-free
• can hold your technique throughout
• achieve the workout goals

I’ll say it again…you should expect your workouts to feel good.  When the training progression fits your needs, when you don’t rush your body’s adaptation process, when you set reasonable goals & when you allow your body to adequately rest & recover…it’s all good!  With these parameters in place, you should expect to have good, solid workouts consistently week after week, month after month, year after year.  And remember consistency is the name of the game!  You’ll gain more from regular & consistent good workouts that you’ll ever get from a few awesome workouts mixed into a lot of meh ones.

Question Meh

And then there’s the meh workouts.  When they happen…and they will definitely happen…it’s best to take an honest & objective look at why.  Meh workouts are avoidable…though we often don’t want to acknowledge the contributing factors.  Here is a short list of things that can negatively impact our workouts:

• Skimping on sleep
• Prioritizing workouts over rest/recovery
• Alcohol & sugar
• Ramping up training volume and/or intensity too quickly
• Exercising injured or with pain
• Poor attitude or fragile mental state
• Exercising with too much home/work stress.

A Side Note:  Speaking of attitude…we have a maxim in our house that states that if we are easily irritated and/or don’t care, we need a nap!  In other words, our mental state is directly related to fatigue/sleep deprivation.

Once you’ve identified the factors that moved your workout into the meh category, then you can make adjustments going forward.  That’s the beauty of this process!  By questioning why you had a meh workout, you can make it more likely that you’ll have a good (or even awesome!) workout next time.  It’s kind of like magic…but more predictable!

So, my dear athletes, if you’re not already doing this…it’s time to celebrate awesome, expect good & question meh.  I promise your workouts will improve & therefore your results too!

Happy Training,

Coach Michelle

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