What do you do when you're not 'feeling' your workout one day?

[dramallama]

I hate those days that I just feel weak and not pumped at all in the gym.. has my CNS not recovered from the last workouts I did?

I do 3 on 1 off, today being day 1/3.. had KILLER workouts last 'rotation' but today on chest/tri day.. I just wasn't feeling it at all. I was lifting the same weight but a few reps less than normal 'cause I just wasn't feeling the pump or any energy... left the gym after about 50 min feeling like I worked everything.. very half-ass.. but I still didn't and don't feel like I gained **** from that workout..

Hopefully on back/bi day tomorrow my energy will be back.. I'm thinking it's just my CNS not recovering from the awesome workouts last 'rotation'..

How do you guys handle this? Take an extra day off before your next workout or keep on truckin'?

 

[ManBeast]

I personally feel the 3 on 1 off cycles are quite taxing on the body/cns as a whole and I'm not a fan of them. Plus I feel that the body doesn't adapt in x amount of days, it adapts in x amount of "cycles" and by having such short close together cycles, the body adapts even faster (in terms of weeks).

ManBeast

 

[kokobeware2]

This is kind of vain but have you tried taking high Arginine before you workout? Get a nice pump and stay motivated that way. Yok3d by USP labs does good or just 5000 mg I Arginine

 

[BamaDog]

I despise those days, I tend to switch it up and do lighter weight, higher reps so I can still get a good burn instead of trying to lift heavy and failing...

I personally feel the 3 on 1 off cycles are quite taxing on the body/cns as a whole and I'm not a fan of them. Plus I feel that the body doesn't adapt in x amount of days, it adapts in x amount of "cycles" and by having such short close together cycles, the body adapts even faster (in terms of weeks).

ManBeast

Good info here.

 

[dramallama]

I personally feel the 3 on 1 off cycles are quite taxing on the body/cns as a whole and I'm not a fan of them. Plus I feel that the body doesn't adapt in x amount of days, it adapts in x amount of "cycles" and by having such short close together cycles, the body adapts even faster (in terms of weeks).

ManBeast

What's your on/off look like?

 

[compudog]

I do 4 days a week; mon, tue, thu, fri, and I separate my heavy days as far apart as possible, deads on tue, squats on fri.

As far as getting burnt out between workouts goes, that hasn't really happened to me since I started using a schedule. I write down what I plan to do each day (for the week or whatever), then go and do it. If it's too much, I decrease the workload. If it's not enough, I increase it. Just doing whatever I feel like always seems to lead to lifting stupid weights, then being basically incapacitated for the next week.

 

[ManBeast]

I'm on a 6 day split these days... redid my 5 day..
Mon: Chest/HIIT Cardio
Tues: Legs
Wed: Core/LI Cardio
Thurs: Back/HIIT Cardio
Fri: Shoulders/HIIT Cardio
Sat: Arms/LI Cardio
Sun: Off

For a 4-day I like:
Mon:Chest/tris
Tue:Back/bis
Wed: off/cardio
Thurs:Shoulders(maybe a bit more arms if needed)
Fri:Legs

or something along those lines.

ManBeast

 

[AZMIDLYF]

If the intensity isn't there for the heavy, I will usually just high rep/dropset style and walk out pumped to the gills feeling endorphic! Lol

 

[waynaferd]

I take EOD off and am doing an FST-7 routine

I do back, chest, legs, then alternate every other week between an arm and a shoulder day...I think they get worked enough

 

[stxnas]

I despise those days, I tend to switch it up and do lighter weight, higher reps so I can still get a good burn instead of trying to lift heavy and failing...

Good info here.

If the intensity isn't there for the heavy, I will usually just high rep/dropset style and walk out pumped to the gills feeling endorphic! Lol

^^^This OR I drop the weights and walk my arse over to the cardio section and run it out.

 

[ManBeast]

LoL, I try and motivate myself by saying (to myself, i'm not like the guy at my Y that talks to himself praying for the strength to do his set before every set), that if I don't lift like I mean it, I might as well go over and do cardio with all the cardio bunnies... LOL

ManBeast

 

[stxnas]

^^^Exactly! I hate myself when I half ass it at the gym

 

[Newtonselite]

i wake up! Feel average! Knock one off (If the wifes at work!) Then go back to sleep, and re evaluate in the afternoon! hahaha

No seriously i just take it off! If im not feeling 100% I have an extra day off. It isnt the end of the world as far as muscle gains are concerned!

 

[dramallama]

LoL, I try and motivate myself by saying (to myself, i'm not like the guy at my Y that talks to himself praying for the strength to do his set before every set), that if I don't lift like I mean it, I might as well go over and do cardio with all the cardio bunnies... LOL

ManBeast

LOL

And I'm with you/the guy below you as far as the hating myself when I'm not all there like I want to be..except I usually skip the cardio 'cause my job has me doing plenty of that

edit: Today was suppose to be back/bis day but I decided to take another day off just so I could make sure I didn't have another ****ty workout.. would rather recover another day then be back at it 100%

 

[hugry4more]

Just push through it!! Man up son. Just think of stuff that gets me angry or what not n use that as fuel. If I'm actually feeling early signs of ovtraining I go high reps n drop set just go for a nice pump.

 

[Iron Warrior]

Sometimes it can be a mental thing. I've gone to the gym just feeling deflated but I push through it. You can also utilize a de-loading phase to your advantage or take a week off after 3-4 months of hard training. I personally like to use PCT for de-loading but maybe you can use it when your results are stalling or in between different training routines.

BTW, I lift on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday. I also do cardio M-F when my knee isn't acting up.

 

[howwedo107]

I'm currently doing upper lower off upper lower off off an make sure my first upper and lower lifting days have different exercises then the second set of days and I always do 5 good sets on my heavy 3 it just feels amazing

 

[BamaDog]

^^^Exactly! I hate myself when I half ass it at the gym

Same here. Nothing worse then a day you just don't feel like yourself.

 

[Tboz]

I hate going and feeling depleted when i get there.. bUt i usually say Im here already so just go ahead and do it... Everytime i feel that way i usually have a killer workout.

If im feelin just to lazy I will always just do arms then go home

 

[Iron_Will]

You want to know what i do when i feel like ****? I get up, man the **** up, go hit a PR, then go to sleep if im tired after that. I lift every single day. heavy. Stop all the nonsense with CNS crap.

I understand when your tired and you need to lower to volume or take a day off, but you should be adjusting your schedule do you can deal with it.

 

[Roniboney]

For your CNS working on consecutive days is obviously not good.Most of the time we have to but we want to be recovered.

What I like doing is a 4 day split and having 1 day of full rest before 3 of the 4 workouts.The 4th workout is always a strong bodypart for me(usually legs).

E.g

Monday:Chest+Shoulders
Wednesday:Back+Traps
Thursday:Legs+Calves
Saturday:Biceps+Triceps

It works quite well actually.Try it out and see how you fare on it.


If you really want max energy dude then do a 1 day on 1 day off split.It seems like you can go to the gym everyday if you need to so try a 1 day on 1 day off split.

Just get a good 3 day split and 1 day on 1 day off it

 

[mattsams89]

You want to know what i do when i feel like ****? I get up, man the **** up, go hit a PR, then go to sleep if im tired after that. I lift every single day. heavy. Stop all the nonsense with CNS crap.

I understand when your tired and you need to lower to volume or take a day off, but you should be adjusting your schedule do you can deal with it.

Then you're blessed with an extremely resilient nervous system and stellar recovery ability. Not everyone can say the same. The nervous system has quasi-finite resources (neurotransmitters, etc) just like the rest of the body so central and peripheral fatigue are actual issues if training isn't planned properly. They can lead to some consequences if they continue chronically. Not to say they should never occur--your training should have periods that beat you up followed by recovery periods to create greater gains than if you just trained straight through.

It's all about fatigue management, which the last part of your post--and others in this thread--get correct.

 

[Jay462]

when I was in college, I'd do a 6 day split (push/pull/legs/push/pull/legs/off...).

later, after entering the real world with not as much sleep, I would do a 3 day split (push/pull/legs/off/push/pull/legs/off...)

even later, after being in the real world for longer, with still not as much sleep, I do legs/push/pull/off/off/legs/push/pull.

It lets me have more rest because I don't sleep enough (get up for work at 6am and go to bed at 10:30 to 11pm). That is simply not enough sleep for me if I am training HARD. (and I don't know how to train any other way.... because I like to train HARD).

I have learned:

I should be sleeping more. It's my fault. I wish there were more than 24 hours in a day....

 

[dramallama]

when I was in college, I'd do a 6 day split (push/pull/legs/push/pull/legs/off...).

later, after entering the real world with not as much sleep, I would do a 3 day split (push/pull/legs/off/push/pull/legs/off...)

even later, after being in the real world for longer, with still not as much sleep, I do legs/push/pull/off/off/legs/push/pull.

It lets me have more rest because I don't sleep enough (get up for work at 6am and go to bed at 10:30 to 11pm). That is simply not enough sleep for me if I am training HARD. (and I don't know how to train any other way.... because I like to train HARD).

I have learned:

I should be sleeping more. It's my fault. I wish there were more than 24 hours in a day....

Do you like doing legs on the first day?.. I feel like sometimes my leg workouts will kill me for the next day as well.. Which is why I like to do them on the day before rest so I've got energy for upper body throughout the week.. I might try and change it up soon though my routine is getting stale.

 

[mattsams89]

Do you like doing legs on the first day?.. I feel like sometimes my leg workouts will kill me for the next day as well.. Which is why I like to do them on the day before rest so I've got energy for upper body throughout the week.. I might try and change it up soon though my routine is getting stale.

If you think about it, what lifts do you move the most mass in? Which lifts activate the most motor units and require the most effort to perform? Yeah, squats and deadlifts (don't maximally train them on the same day >>) are hard, but you want to be fresh for them. If you put them halfway through the training week, you'll already have a ton of accumulated fatigue from the earlier sessions, which will interfere with the amount of effort you can apply to the movement. From a strength/power perspective, this isn't ideal--while upper body strength is also important, squats, deadlifts, and cleans are going to be the bread and butter movements that point you toward performance. Even for "general health," squatting and dead lifting will be more associated with everyday activity than laying on a bench and pressing a bar. That debate goes a lot deeper, but we'll save that for another post/thread.

 

[Iron_Will]

If you think about it, what lifts do you move the most mass in? Which lifts activate the most motor units and require the most effort to perform? Yeah, squats and deadlifts (don't maximally train them on the same day >>) are hard, but you want to be fresh for them. If you put them halfway through the training week, you'll already have a ton of accumulated fatigue from the earlier sessions, which will interfere with the amount of effort you can apply to the movement. From a strength/power perspective, this isn't ideal--while upper body strength is also important, squats, deadlifts, and cleans are going to be the bread and butter movements that point you toward performance. Even for "general health," squatting and dead lifting will be more associated with everyday activity than laying on a bench and pressing a bar. That debate goes a lot deeper, but we'll save that for another post/thread.

.

 

[Jay462]

Do you like doing legs on the first day?.. I feel like sometimes my leg workouts will kill me for the next day as well.. Which is why I like to do them on the day before rest so I've got energy for upper body throughout the week.. I might try and change it up soon though my routine is getting stale.

I love it - I feel like the reasons mentioned are valid. I actually do deadlifts right after I do my squats. Yes, I could probably deadlift more if I split them up, but I'm 6' tall, 184 lb, less than 10% body fat, and I can deadlift 450 lb for reps on a good, well rested day (and I only use chalk). I'm not saying that's a crazy amount of weight or anything, but it does show that you can lift decent weight if you squat and deadlift on the same day.

As far as it killing my push or pull workouts, no - as long as I get adequate nutrition and sleep, I'm good to go. I suppose if you worked legs in such a way that you completely depleted your glycogen stores, and then didn't replenish them... and then tried to bench press heavy the next day - yeah, that has happened to me. But, I've been eating high protein every day, moderate fat and low carb on off days, and moderate/high carb with low fat on training days. Having a sweet potato when you get home from the gym is something I do a lot, for example.

I'm sitting here on my couch all antsy because I made myself take a second rest day. I wanted to go squat tonight, but my body was telling me I shouldn't. I'm going to listen, because last leg workout wasn't as good as usual because I only took one rest day.

 

[mattsams89]

I love it - I feel like the reasons mentioned are valid. I actually do deadlifts right after I do my squats. Yes, I could probably deadlift more if I split them up, but I'm 6' tall, 184 lb, less than 10% body fat, and I can deadlift 450 lb for reps on a good, well rested day (and I only use chalk). I'm not saying that's a crazy amount of weight or anything, but it does show that you can lift decent weight if you squat and deadlift on the same day.

As far as it killing my push or pull workouts, no - as long as I get adequate nutrition and sleep, I'm good to go. I suppose if you worked legs in such a way that you completely depleted your glycogen stores, and then didn't replenish them... and then tried to bench press heavy the next day - yeah, that has happened to me. But, I've been eating high protein every day, moderate fat and low carb on off days, and moderate/high carb with low fat on training days. Having a sweet potato when you get home from the gym is something I do a lot, for example.

I'm sitting here on my couch all antsy because I made myself take a second rest day. I wanted to go squat tonight, but my body was telling me I shouldn't. I'm going to listen, because last leg workout wasn't as good as usual because I only took one rest day.

If you're able to rest properly and take in adequate nutrients (which a lot of people don't do), it's certainly possible, but the hit the nervous system takes is still pretty severe. I would rather give myself a day to recover between squats and pulls, but I suppose it's individual preference.

 

[Iron_Will]

If you're able to rest properly and take in adequate nutrients (which a lot of people don't do), it's certainly possible, but the hit the nervous system takes is still pretty severe. I would rather give myself a day to recover between squats and pulls, but I suppose it's individual preference.

I always feel fatigue, but you have to get use to it. Build your volume up and you will get use to it. you will always be somewhat fatigued, but eventually, your body will become a machine. im progressing very good right now. Im not sure how far im going to go but if you follow my log, you can see how it all works out. my goal is 450 for squat and dead for 3 reps.

 

[srblan]

You want to know what i do when i feel like ****? I get up, man the **** up, go hit a PR, then go to sleep if im tired after that. I lift every single day. heavy. Stop all the nonsense with CNS crap.

I understand when your tired and you need to lower to volume or take a day off, but you should be adjusting your schedule do you can deal with it.

If you lift every single day, you're probably not pushing yourself hard enough during your workouts. The body needs recovery time after intense exercise.

 

[Iron_Will]

I love it - I feel like the reasons mentioned are valid. I actually do deadlifts right after I do my squats. Yes, I could probably deadlift more if I split them up, but I'm 6' tall, 184 lb, less than 10% body fat, and I can deadlift 450 lb for reps on a good, well rested day (and I only use chalk). I'm not saying that's a crazy amount of weight or anything, but it does show that you can lift decent weight if you squat and deadlift on the same day.

As far as it killing my push or pull workouts, no - as long as I get adequate nutrition and sleep, I'm good to go. I suppose if you worked legs in such a way that you completely depleted your glycogen stores, and then didn't replenish them... and then tried to bench press heavy the next day - yeah, that has happened to me. But, I've been eating high protein every day, moderate fat and low carb on off days, and moderate/high carb with low fat on training days. Having a sweet potato when you get home from the gym is something I do a lot, for example.

I'm sitting here on my couch all antsy because I made myself take a second rest day. I wanted to go squat tonight, but my body was telling me I shouldn't. I'm going to listen, because last leg workout wasn't as good as usual because I only took one rest day.

You want to squat? THEN SQUAT!. Listen man, you need to vary the volume. How many reps are you lifting per day? Thats all that matters. I literally lift 3 reps on squat and deads. Maybe another 3 reps of squat later in the day (ALL HEAVY). then i add a couple more reps because some of my warmup sets get heavy, so i count those reps. so your talking about 10-15 reps daily. you take my program which is 70-100 reps weekly. And then you take a general B.S 5x5 program (beginner is fine, but anything higher, this program is not for someone who wants to increase there lifts fast), the 5x5 program gives you 75 reps per week. So the volume is similar but im lifting more frequently, and heavier. Therefore im going to make 2 3 or 4x more the gains you would with your 5x5 b.s. program. Of course everything is preference, but if you want the best gains, follow my log. imo. you can tell me im an idiot. But its just my opinion on the matter. Dig down deep and you will get better.

 

[Iron_Will]

If you lift every single day, you're probably not pushing yourself hard enough during your workouts. The body needs recovery time after intense exercise.

wrong! you don't need to push hard to make gains. thats a typical no pain no gain type thing. I use to push so hard that i would be exhausted after my workouts. That was not good. It took me longer to recover and my progression slowed down. Listen. Ive squatted everyday for 3 months straight. I didn't reall have a good program like i do in my log below. Im not following a program with the 3 reps per day. BUT, my squat increased over 120lbs in 3 months. and i only missed like 4 or 5 days total. BOOM!

 

[Iron_Will]

If you lift every single day, you're probably not pushing yourself hard enough during your workouts. The body needs recovery time after intense exercise.

btw whats your squat max? Im just wondering. I won't hate. and you weight compared to it?

 

[srblan]

wrong! you don't need to push hard to make gains. thats a typical no pain no gain type thing. I use to push so hard that i would be exhausted after my workouts. That was not good. It took me longer to recover and my progression slowed down. Listen. Ive squatted everyday for 3 months straight. I didn't reall have a good program like i do in my log below. Im not following a program with the 3 reps per day. BUT, my squat increased over 120lbs in 3 months. and i only missed like 4 or 5 days total. BOOM!

Ahh, I'm not a powerlifter. My goal is to maximize my gains, and the best way for me to do that is intense exercise, adequate nutrition and enough rest. Plus, I'm not a teenager, so recovery takes a little longer than it used to.

 

[Iron_Will]

Ahh, I'm not a powerlifter. My goal is to maximize my gains, and the best way for me to do that is intense exercise, adequate nutrition and enough rest. Plus, I'm not a teenager, so recovery takes a little longer than it used to.

Alright. than our training differs. So good for you. and good for me

 

[srblan]

btw whats your squat max? Im just wondering. I won't hate. and you weight compared to it?

I have bad knees and don't squat heavy.

 

[Iron_Will]

I have bad knees and don't squat heavy.

squats strengthen the knees. Wear sleeves and warmup more properly. Build your way up with weight and work your form. My knees felt like crap when i first started squatting heavy. Now they are stronger than ever.

 

[mattsams89]

I always feel fatigue, but you have to get use to it. Build your volume up and you will get use to it. you will always be somewhat fatigued, but eventually, your body will become a machine. im progressing very good right now. Im not sure how far im going to go but if you follow my log, you can see how it all works out. my goal is 450 for squat and dead for 3 reps.

Trust me, I understand volume. Haha. My training year began with a 123,000+lb week (the last time I had seen over 60,000 was in October). I kept volume high for the rest of the block (85-95,000lbs/wk) before dropping to a strength-oriented recovery block (47-55,000lb/wk). Now I'm in what's called a 10-5-10-5, where you perform 3x10 one week, 3x5 the next, and so on. Last week was 81,000lbs, and this week will be in the 50,000s. Yes, volume is important for building a proper training base, but the body also requires recovery time to adapt. As I posted before, the body has finite resources (glycogen, PCr pool, neurotransmitters, etc.). They replenish given time (PCr faster than others), but training high day-in and day-out seven days a week will exhaust your reserves pretty quickly on just about everything but fat and your creatine pool.

Short periods of training at very high intensity and volume are productive in the long run (it's called overreaching), but chronic performance will screw you in the long term.

 

[Iron_Will]

Trust me, I understand volume. Haha. My training year began with a 123,000+lb week (the last time I had seen over 60,000 was in October). I kept volume high for the rest of the block (85-95,000lbs/wk) before dropping to a strength-oriented recovery block (47-55,000lb/wk). Now I'm in what's called a 10-5-10-5, where you perform 3x10 one week, 3x5 the next, and so on. Last week was 81,000lbs, and this week will be in the 50,000s. Yes, volume is important for building a proper training base, but the body also requires recovery time to adapt. As I posted before, the body has finite resources (glycogen, PCr pool, neurotransmitters, etc.). They replenish given time (PCr faster than others), but training high day-in and day-out seven days a week will exhaust your reserves pretty quickly on just about everything but fat and your creatine pool.

Short periods of training at very high intensity and volume are productive in the long run (it's called overreaching), but chronic performance will screw you in the long term.

really.then why am i improving?

also.. ill hit you up with someone who imspires me, also someone who i got all this from. Obviously mine is a bit different, but here you go..

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/max_out_on_squats_every_day

 

[mattsams89]

I have bad knees and don't squat heavy.

People call bad knees, but typically it's a form thing. Fix your form and you'll fix your knees. Now, for the people who have much more difficult issues, there are still quarter and third squats (or box squats, etc.). If you simply can't perform the squat, there's still the dead lift. It's all a matter of accommodating for what genetics have given you.

 

[Iron_Will]

People call bad knees, but typically it's a form thing. Fix your form and you'll fix your knees. Now, for the people who have much more difficult issues, there are still quarter and third squats (or box squats, etc.). If you simply can't perform the squat, there's still the dead lift. It's all a matter of accommodating for what genetics have given you.

This. The mentality of I CANNOT is just not acceptable unless you have a legit medical condition.

 

[srblan]

squats strengthen the knees. Wear sleeves and warmup more properly. Build your way up with weight and work your form. My knees felt like crap when i first started squatting heavy. Now they are stronger than ever.

Notice I didn't say I don't squat, I don't squat heavy. I do squat, but just not super heavy - I prefer volume for that exercise at this point.

 

[mattsams89]

really.then why am i improving?

also.. ill hit you up with someone who imspires me, also someone who i got all this from. Obviously mine is a bit different, but here you go..

Two points.

1. You disregarded what I said at the end of my post. Overreaching is effective in the short term. Chronic overreaching is not. A metric crap-ton of scientific research has been posted on the subject.
2. The US is one of the worst weightlifting countries in the world. We hold zero records and will likely not have a single male competitor at this year's Olympics. The women are decent, but it's unlikely we'll medal. If his methods worked in the long run, this wouldn't be the case.

 

[Iron_Will]

Notice I didn't say I don't squat, I don't squat heavy. I do squat, but just not super heavy - I prefer volume for that exercise at this point.

I got an idea for you that might help... say you do 3 sets of 10 reps. First off, i suggest you warm up to a heavy single (just one single) about 50-100 pounds more than the 3 sets of 10 weight. I guarantee your CNS will fire up and the 3 sets of ten will get easier and easier. Continue to hit the 3 sets fo 10 by progressing on that, while continuing to hit that heavy single in the beginning. You will see gains in no time.

 

[Iron_Will]

Two points.

1. You disregarded what I said at the end of my post. Overreaching is effective in the short term. Chronic overreaching is not. A metric crap-ton of scientific research has been posted on the subject.
2. The US is one of the worst weightlifting countries in the world. We hold zero records and will likely not have a single male competitor at this year's Olympics. The women are decent, but it's unlikely we'll medal. If his methods worked in the long run, this wouldn't be the case.

ok, well i disagree. I think your body adapts to a certain extent. sure overtime you might feel fatigued, but you take a day off and feel better. I think your science is a bunch of made up B.S.. even if its not made up, i don't believe in it. Long term? How is me squatting almost everyday for 3 months not long term? the bodys handles stress and trys to adapt as quickly as possible. Eventually your body will shut down? In my case it would have shut down in about a month. Your body won't just eventually die off. Sure i feel fatigued a lot and take loits of naps, but i am progressing right now so thats all that matters.

 

[srblan]

People call bad knees, but typically it's a form thing. Fix your form and you'll fix your knees. Now, for the people who have much more difficult issues, there are still quarter and third squats (or box squats, etc.). If you simply can't perform the squat, there's still the dead lift. It's all a matter of accommodating for what genetics have given you.

I do box squats mostly. I'm going to ignore the assumptions, but I assure you, bad knees actually do exist, and I have at least one of them. Like I said "I don't do heavy squats," does not mean I don't do squats.

 

[mattsams89]

Moved to private discussion...

 

[mattsams89]

I do box squats mostly. I'm going to ignore the assumptions, but I assure you, bad knees actually do exist, and I have at least one of them. Like I said "I don't do heavy squats," does not mean I don't do squats.

Perhaps I misread your post. Apologies. Box squats are acceptable, too. I have some gnarly tendonosis in my right knee (stems from gait issues due to a limb length imbalance), so there are times in training where I have to box squat, so I understand where you're coming from. Also, box squats let you load up the weight, so you can definitely see some pretty big gains from performing them. Sorry about misreading your post.

 

[srblan]

Perhaps I misread your post. Apologies. Box squats are acceptable, too. I have some gnarly tendonosis in my right knee (stems from gait issues due to a limb length imbalance), so there are times in training where I have to box squat, so I understand where you're coming from. Also, box squats let you load up the weight, so you can definitely see some pretty big gains from performing them. Sorry about misreading your post.

Yeah, I know I have form issues occasionally, but it's way easier to keep form with lighter weight, so I do things like 20 rep sets and stuff like that. I'm not training as a power lifter and i check my ego at the door to the gym, so I don't mind

 

[The Cold]

When I am feeling flat and lifeless in the gym there is one thing that typically helps. I will stop what I am doing and drink about 20- 30 oz of water. Then I will do an assistance exercise before heading back to my main lift. These days volume stays pretty low as well.