How to Overcome a Bad Workout

In a perfect world, we crush all our workouts. We feel amazing, hit all our pace or power targets, and have that “spent with a smile” feeling when we’re done. But that’s probably not every workout you have. Some days you feel better than others, and some days are downright crappy. Your legs are heavy and everything thing seems just hard. Those power targets that worked well last week just aren’t happening today. Maybe you find that the road on your chosen route for the day is being chip-sealed. Or the storms that weren’t in the forecast slam you as you are about to go run.

Here’s what to do if you experience a bad workout.

First assess if what is happening is within your control. Environmental factors such as weather or road conditions, aren’t. If you didn’t eat breakfast and you are trying to do VO2 intervals, well, you might not have set yourself up for success..

If it’s an environmental issue out of your control, search for an alternate option (indoor trainer, treadmill, different route) to get in the planned workout. If getting the planned workout in isn’t possible, then just modify the workout to get as close as possible, or just do something. Getting on your bike for even 30 minutes helps maintain training consistency, even when the planned workout might have been 2 hours with specific intervals.

If it is a physical issue, such as not being able to hit your power or pace targets, then you need to dig a little deeper into the circumstances. Are you at the end of a long training block, so you are expected to be fatigued? Are you training in the mid-day heat and aren’t acclimated? Did you eat and drink properly after your previous workout and before this one? Are you getting enough sleep? Are there external stressors in your life (work, home, etc) that could be adding to your overall stress load?

We all have workouts that don’t go as planned. We have the ones we think we’ll nail and they just go south – our bodies decided not to cooperate, or perhaps an inopportune flat. It’s normal to have a bad workout here and there. Let it go for the day and start fresh tomorrow. If it is happening regularly, then you’ll want to review potential causes and see what might need to get changed in your training plan or your daily habits.

Bad workouts are a part of training, and if we learn from them we can become better athletes.