Last week the plan started out with me cutting my volume to still get my workouts in but to help with recovery. As I stated, not only my motivation was down a bit, but I also had an irritated right triceps tendon, knees were beat up pretty badly (where the lateralis attaches to the patella), and just an overall feeling of being achy.
The plan was to cut back to 3 days instead of 4, taking out the rotating workout that causes me to train the same muscle groups on Fridays that I train on Mondays. However, it was pretty obvious that my right elbow was going to be a problem on Wednesday night, so I recalculated and decided to not only cruise for the rest of the week, but to not train, at all.
I typically cruise with light training for a week. I get a good pump, don't go to failure, and I focus more on simply getting a pump and getting out of there. On occasion, though, I end up needing a cruise week where I simply do not train, at all. The typical cruise weeks where I train light are when I take my cruise weeks proactively. In this case, I had to take it reactively due to aches and pains, feeling run down, not enough sleep, and some added stress on the homefront.
Obviously, after training for so long, I ABHOR taking time off, even if it is for only a handful of days and even if I know I will benefit from it. I am out of my routine and I am a highly structured individual who is lost without my days being boring and redundant. I almost always train after I train my clients in FTL, so when I don't train, I feel like a slug being in the gym training my clients -- as if I am half-assing it while I am asking them to pour themselves into their training sessions.
Suffice to say that it was a long 5 days. When I did get back in the gym Monday, holy shit, I immediately knew that those 5 days were needed.
I blew up. I was strong as hell, my joints felt great, and the blood flow was other-worldly. It's that feeling you get after a short break from training when you wish you felt that way every single week. I have laughed and said for years that I might have better workouts if I would only train every other week. I am all about experimenting, but I have yet to try that out one. If nothing else, my joints would love me. I just don't think I would grow. lol
The only downfall is the soreness. OMG. I feel crippled and I have legs tomorrow.
I also changed my training this week back to training at TITAN GYM where I train my clients in FTL. I have been training at a gym in WPB where I have access after hours but having make that drive back home (an hour), sit and wait for the gym to clear out, go in and turn on only some of the lights, and get going to train has started to get to me a little bit. There are other factors but I won't get into them publicly. The point is that I enjoy training at TITAN more right now than I do the exclusive access that I have to the gym in WPB. It is more lively in the sense that there are other people there, all of the lights are on, the music is loud (even though I use my earbuds, psychologically I know there is no other noise at my regular gym other than the noise I'm making).
Right now, if I am going to train with someone, I need them to be serious and locked in. If they aren't, I can't train like that -- I don't care who it is. I am not going to make concessions for someone who is not going to be 100% invested. I would be better off training by myself and continuing to train in FTL other than maybe leg days because the leg equipment in WPB is slightly better. When I train by myself, there is no opportunity for negativity, complaining, having to change anything around, etc. I just do me and I'm in the zone.
One thing I have come to in the last few days is that I need to stay in my lane. I need to cover my own ass, first. In doing this, I am limiting outside influences and things that can contribute negatively to my training. If it isn't going to support my efforts and my time, I'm not investing in it.
I'm back to enjoying the process and all it really took was a handful of days away from the gym. This is a prime example of not "sticking it out" because had I done that, I likely would still have aches and pains, and I would still be battling with motivation and probably overtrained.
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