New Lifter Tip #8: Know when to hold ‘em & when to fold ‘em

* For all previous tips, go to my “Beginner’s Guide to Lifting” here.

It’s important to learn what your body is - and is not - capable of.  As you gain more and more experience with training, pay close attention to how your body handles and responds to the type and amount of training you are doing.  You will have good days in the gym and you will have days where you struggle, don’t feel that great, and your performance will show it.  Be smart and listen to your body.  There are times where you can push through a low energy or low motivation day by just getting started and putting forth the effort.  I’ve had some of my best lifting sessions on days where I didn’t feel like doing it at all and was sure the workout was going to suck.  

On the flip side, it’s very important to know when to back off and even take a day or week off.  As a beginner to intermediate lifter, there really isn’t a reason you should see declining performance over the course of a program.  It’s not all that uncommon to have short periods where your numbers don’t necessarily jump up each time, but if you see declining performance, it’s time to back off the weight, focus on your technique, or even consider taking the day off.  In more extreme cases of declining performance, energy or demotivation, taking at least a week off completely or a short period of rest and active recovery can do a world of good.  

Your body will adapt and respond in it’s own unique way to training and if you pay attention to its cues, you’ll begin to learn what works best and what doesn’t really work for you at all - regardless of how well it has or has not worked for others.  Over time, filter out the “not-so-good” and keep note of and retain the “good.”  Create your own library of resources that work for you and fit your needs and goals.  Following the advice and programming of others can be great, but it’s never smart to follow blindly and ignore your own body and instincts.  

12 notes

Show

  1. questformuscleandfitness said: Well said. I’m currently taking a week off after 12 good tough weeks of training. Letting some minor aches, pains & strains recover before coming back hard.
  2. questformuscleandfitness reblogged this from warrior-fitness
  3. warrior-fitness posted this

Blog comments powered by Disqus