Stop Chasing Fatigue. Start Chasing Progress.

Any trainer or coach can make you tired. Heck, even my mum could train you and make you tired. Feeling exhausted after every single workout is not a sign that you’re training well. It’s a sign that you’re pushing too hard, limiting your results, and accumulating fatigue. Strive for progress and improvement, not building tiredness.

When people come and see me, I explicitly tell them that they should not feel dead in the session, especially early on. They come to see a coach or personal trainer and expect to die. They think that they “need to sweat more”, or have to “be super sore”, and if not, that they “haven’t done anything”. These are not good measures of your progress.

I understand that that sounds counterintuitive. Surely, you think, the more I push and the harder I work, the more results I will get?! It’s not that simple. In strength training, constantly pushing to your absolute limit leaves you exhausted, encourages technique break down and increases your risk of injury. 

Please understand, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t work hard. I’m not saying you shouldn’t feel tired. Working hard and feeling tired can be great. I’m saying that you shouldn’t be chasing this feeling EVERY single time you workout or lift weights. You shouldn’t be crawling out of your session, feeling like you’ve been kicked in the face.

Resting in between sets is good for you

• Who are the strongest people in the world overall - strongmen, and powerlifters.

They train hard all year round. They frequently do tough workouts. But they don’t push to fully expend themselves every time. Why?

If your maximum capacity is 10 out of 10, and every single time, you’re hitting a 10. How long do you think it’s reasonable that you can keep that up? 5 more workouts? 10 more workouts? 20 more workouts? Like all things in fitness, the answer is; it depends. But the point is that the number is dramatically lower than if you trained hard, consistently, while still leaving a little in reserve.

Training at a 10 out of 10 means that by the end, technique is deteriorating, fatigue is high, and injury risk is ever-increasing. And injury risk at these end effort ranges is significantly elevated.

Think, how much more dangerous is training going to be at that 10 level, than if you back off slightly, and the exertion level is nearer 8. How many more workouts would you be able to reasonably keep pushing for? 5 more workouts? 10 more workouts? The answer is it is a huge number higher than if you’re smashing that 10 out of 10 exertion level every  time.

The ONLY requirement for a strength training session to be working is that you train hard enough to stimulate adaptation within the body.

If you have done this, then you are improving. You rest, recover, and come back stronger. That's literally how strength gains occur. Recovery is where the improvement happens. And recovery happens when you aren’t training.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/2975a7_6ce6bb3350504cbf85c8808c42eed87d/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

R Squatting at The Active Lifestyle personal training studio, Mount Eden, Auckland

Instead of asking yourself:

“Do I feel smashed?”

Ask:

• Is my technique improving?

• Did these lifts feel better than last time?

• Did I lift more weight?

• Did I add another repetition?

• Am I less sore than I was last time?

Your measuring stick shouldn’t be “how smashed am I?”. It should be: Am I moving closer to my goal?

Anyone can be tired from training. It’s easy to notice that you’re tired. But long term, you’ll remember becoming stronger, moving better, having less pain, and being able to play your sport, lift up your grandkids, or move bags and furniture around the house.

Train hard, but properly. Rest and recover. Repeat. Results will follow.