Yucky Workout

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NewWinter

Active Member
I am a new "poster," but I have been lurking in the forum for quite some time. First, I just have to say how grateful I am for Cathe, her professionalism, and her continued efforts toward creating QUALITY workouts that give results. I have worked out regularly for years (mostly FIRM) and I am now in the best cardiovascular shape of my life thanks to Cathe. Cathe, you are truly a marvel in the fitness industry and have made such a huge difference in my life.

Now that I have "bragged" about my cardiovascular fitness, I will get to my question which concerns just that! Is it normal to have really terrible workouts on some days? I did MIC this morning for about the 5th time (love it!) and felt just terrible practically the whole time. I finally even had to pause the tape about a third of the way into the step portion. I made it through the whole workout, but felt so dejected because I felt like I had lost some fitness. My schedule currently includes doing Interval Max two times per week and I get through that workout just fine, as has normally been the case with MIC. Should I be concerned about this or is having a bad workout a normal part of the fitness process? Does this happen to anyone else? I would love to hear from anyone else who has experienced this.
 
Hi NewWinter!

Wow, you are really fit, congratulations! Do you keep a workout log? I am so grateful for mine. Sometimes I'll write in my comments section "I just had NO energy today!" then the next day "sinusy head cold, ick!" --point is, I can look back and see that my low energy day was because I was coming down with a cold, which of course I didn't realize at the time. Or perhaps I might see "couldn't get into the workout AT ALL!" and the next day "period started 3 days early, what's up?!". Another reason you might have a bad workout day is if you aren't fueled up well. If I've had a bad nutrition day, or am slightly dehydrated, I can feel that in my workout too. Or if I'm slightly sleep deprived. And sometimes, it's just a MOOD! Whatever the reason, there is nothing unusual about having a bad workout day where your favorite tough-but-doable workout suddenly feels like it's totally beyond your reach, or your feet feel like lead, or you just want to lay down in the middle and nap. Sometimes I have an entire workout WEEK like that. Your fitness level is still there, but you mind or body is rebelling. Take a rest day tomorrow and get some extra sleep, and hit it hard the day after! I bet you'll have those wings on your feet again. Whaddaya mean, "what wings on my feet?" --if you can do IMax twice a week, they're there somewhere! :)
 
Yucky workout syndrome.

Hi, NewWinter:

Yes, this has happened to me. The first time it occurred, I remember feeling really bad and thinking that something was happening to my fitness level.

It does occur to me from time to time, and usually it will coincide, like Susan P said, with some illness or little bug I'm fighting, or with my period. Most recently it happened to me on Friday, and I was working out with 9801 the step portion, which I really like, and I couldn't wait for it to be over; I just didn't feel like doing it. I didn't workout on Saturday, and on Sunday I did Stepworks and felt great!! Hope my experience helps you.

Susan P, the workout log sounds like a good idea I'm going to have to try.
 
Hi!

Thanks for posting. It was so nice to hear from you. I'm so happy to hear that I have helped make a positive contribution in your fitness lifestyle. Thanks for sharing that with me. It makes me feel great.

As for your question, it is very normal to have days when you just feel like you don't have it in you to continue. This can be related to a wide range of reasons from something as serious as an early sign of overtraining to simply waking up on the wrong side of the bed that day.

Based on what you wrote, it could be that doing Imax twice per week is becoming a bit too much. While it is acceptable to do it twice per week, I personally find it to be much more enjoyable and effective when done once per week. I personally find that I truly give it my all when I know I only have to push that hard one time per week. Especially when doing MIC(in its entirety)along with it. Those are both very advanced workouts and sometimes too much of a good thing becomes a not so good thing anymore.

If you have not been having bad workouts regularily then perhaps you just didn't get enough sleep the night before and/or eat enough breakfast(or too much breakfast to close to your workout for that matter).

You also need to factor in some rest days per week. After an Imax or MIC day, I would suggest putting in either a rest day or a non cardio day(strength train).

These are a couple of suggestions to consider in an effort to cut back on "bad" day occurrences. But, yes, they are normal and we all have them from time to time.
 
Thanks Susan, Val, and Cathe!!

Thanks so much Susan, Val and Cathe - I pretty much knew that I wasn't alone, but I really didn't know what other people's actual experience felt like compared to mine. This does happen to be day 2 of "that time of the month" and it did occur to me that it might have something to do with it (it may have also had something to do with my emotional reaction to it;) Thanks to all of you for your suggestions, and Susan, I do keep a workout log, but I only record actual workouts, not any comments about how I felt, etc. I think I'll give that a try!
 
Yucky Days

Hi NewWinter! Your certainly not alone in having bad workout days. It's usually especially hard for me when my sinusitis kicks up. On those days, I usually take it down a peg, meaning I don't weights as heavy as I normally do and a more low impact cardio. I'm able to get through my workout and feel pretty good. If I didn't do this, I would probably stop in between and cry about it later. So try this. We all can't put out 100% all of the time. Take care, Kathy
 
Hi NewWinter!

I have good and bad spells in my workouts. In fact, several months ago I had to quit in the middle of MIC, a video I can usually easily complete. I have become nauseaous on some occasions when doing early a.m. workouts where I used heavy weights. My body is better evenings than early mornings. But to answer your question, it's happened to me too. Some workout days I soar, some I just pray for them to end. Fortunately, the former is more often than the latter.
 
Hi Amy!

I'm happy to hear that I am not alone (I'm not happy that you and other people have bad workouts, but you know what I mean!). It is so frustrating when that happens. I can usually talk myself out of a bad workout, but when I can't, boy is it discouraging! Fortunately, those days aren't often, but when they do come, I feel like my body is rebelling against me! I guess I am more discouraged by bad workouts now since I have had such great cardio results with Cathe's tapes. Once I got to the point where MIC and IMax weren't killing me and were enjoyable, I thought I was really getting somewhere in my fitness journey! This most recent experience and the wonderful input that I have received on this forum have reminded me not to be so hard on myself if I happen to have a bad workout and to LISTEN to what my body is trying to tell me on those days! It's usually right! Angela
 
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