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Post by tedwelser on Oct 19, 2016 19:59:55 GMT -7
So, I had a big work day today with lots to thinking, writing, and meeting with people.
I finally got to start my workout tonight at 8:15 and I just could not get going. I did a couple of warm ups, but I just did not have the mental energy to focus on my boulder ladder nor to do the intricate beta of my PE workout.
Instead of giving up entirely I decided to do a simpler workout on the campus board. I did some warmups, a couple standard ladders, and then a did feet-on moves on the campus board, up the smalls and mediums and down the large and medium for about 27 moves. Basically, I tried to do the PE workout but on the super simplified context of the campus board.
I did 5 reps with about a 1 to 1 duty cycle and called it a night. Anyone else have trouble with this type of loss of motivation and capacity to focus, especially with end of day workouts?
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Post by daustin on Oct 19, 2016 21:39:25 GMT -7
Yes, totally. If I'm going to do a workout after work, it has to have a heavy element of fun. I can do a power workout because most of the warm up leading up to working limit moves is just plain fun bouldering. I can also do roped-bouldering PE, because that's effectively just climbing hard routes, which is fun. In both of these cases, I'm probably not being as rigorous or strict as I should be -- but if the choice is between no workout at all, or a fun/loose workout, I'll pick the latter.
On the other hand, I can't do something tedious like ARCing, or something that (for me) requires very high levels of focus/psyche, like HBing, campusing or LBCs. Those workouts have to happen in the morning before work, or on the weekend.
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Post by Chris W on Oct 20, 2016 3:47:55 GMT -7
My job, combined with my personality, makes work mentally exhausting for me. I have the same trouble, and almost never work out after work. I go to the extreme of getting up at 04:30 on days when I work a day shift to get my training in before work. Even on off days, I still train in the morning or right after lunch, otherwise I lose motivation fast.
This is so extreme that typically, after dinner (between 16:00 and 17:30) I don't do anything productive at all, including house work, yard work or even studying when I was in school. I just play with the kids and get things set up for my early AM wake up. Sometimes (or often) my body will feel more awake later in the morning or early in the afternoon, so it's all a bit of a trade off.
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Post by MarkAnderson on Oct 20, 2016 10:20:33 GMT -7
Have you tried caffeine for evening sessions? (Obviously that can create a sleep problem, but if the workout is REALLY important...) Generally I don't use caffeine in training, but if the alternative is not training or a shitty workout, I'll take the caffeine.
Also, it helps to know that once you get going, get the music pumping, it will likely turn out to be more fun than you think. Sometimes just taking that first step towards the door is the hardest part.
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Post by ehowell on Oct 20, 2016 10:45:25 GMT -7
Sometimes just taking that first step towards the door is the hardest part. That's been my experience. I often do my sessions after work, as I'm at work at 6:30 am and don't have many opportunities for a morning session. Driving to the gym, I'm generally a little run down, but once I get through about 30 minutes of warming up and do some tugs on a campus board or something (to really get the fingers firing), I'm good to go. I'm generally in the gym by 4:30 though, so 8:15 would be way late for me. I'm almost getting ready for bed at that point!
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Post by tedwelser on Oct 21, 2016 7:35:10 GMT -7
Thanks to all for your comments and insights. Next week I will aim to schedule at least one good workout for early morning. I have some flexibility for my Wednesday morning and will try to make it happen. I can't do caffeine after dinner.
Also, I am hosting people at my home wall twice a week, so I think I also learned that I need to just plan to train when that is not happening, since I end up interrupting my normal flow with chit chat and advice. In related news, we have raised over $2,000 for our Climb Athens project, and will be getting 12 inch deep gymnastic pads for BetaFish, the home wall with the Moon/Kilter board.
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Post by alexandra on Oct 21, 2016 10:05:50 GMT -7
Another thing that might help is to keep eating small snacks between lunch and the end of your workout and eat a late dinner. I always find it hard to get up the couch after dinner, but then again I eat a ton of food usually...
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Post by MarkAnderson on Oct 21, 2016 20:11:58 GMT -7
That's a great point A. I can't climb for shit with food in my stomach. If I'm doing an evening session I will only eat granola or energy bars beforehand (one at breakfast time, one at lunch time, one before my workout).
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Post by climber511 on Oct 21, 2016 21:26:59 GMT -7
I am not the climber many of you are but I have been a very serious weight trainer and competitor in multiple sports since 1959 and have learned a few things about working out. About 80% of one's workouts will be "punch the clock" or normal get the work done workouts. 10% will be "why am I even bothering" and 10% will be "I think I'm superman". Every workout will not be great - show up and do some work - if today is not the day then maybe your body is trying to tell you something. We are much better off skipping one rep - or set - or workout than pushing oneself into an injury because you will feel guilty if you don't. I just read a saying I kind of like - "Don't f... Yourself Up". It has taken me over 5 decades of hard training to realize that less really can be better than more at times. Rest is training!
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Post by alexandra on Oct 22, 2016 8:14:22 GMT -7
That's a great point A. I can't climb for shit with food in my stomach. If I'm doing an evening session I will only eat granola or energy bars beforehand (one at breakfast time, one at lunch time, one before my workout). Hahaha Mark, I was just referring to the snacking happening *between* lunch and dinner. I probably eat 3 energy bars between noon and 8 pm when the workout is over, and then move on to dinner after working out! Are you saying that you skip lunch and just eat a bar instead?? I got really dizzy and get headaches every time I tried to do something like that...Do you ever experience headaches/dizziness from food restriction and if so, how do you remedy that issue? Regardless, I really need to learn to be more disciplined about food quantity - I could really benefit from loosing a few lbs, both for gymnastics and climbing (though not for crossfit, which is a difficult tradeoff for me...)
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Post by MarkAnderson on Oct 22, 2016 14:21:00 GMT -7
For a few years it seemed like about once per season or so I would feel lightheaded or lethargic during a workout from under-eating (but only when on a diet, which I almost always am during my Power or PE/Performance Phases). Over the last couple seasons my dieting has been more gradual, and that has cleared up the problem as far as I can tell.
When it did happen, I would eat a granola/energy bar and/or just extend my warmup until I started feeling better.
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