Horrible Workouts

[Norden]

1 minute ago I had the worst workout I've ever had.

When warming up everything felt like usual. It felt good.

I was gonna close grippers, do some pinch and some card tearing.

However, I had absolutely NOTHING to give. No strength... AT ALL, in any of the different lifts/exercises.

My question is, what do you do in a situation like this? If you've ever experienced this at all.

What may the reason be when something like this happens? I'm absolutely not overtrained, so that's not an option.

I'm usually able to close #3 on a pretty bad day.

Today I was sure I was gonna manhandle it completely.

I couldn't even set it to paralell and I was half an inch from closing it.

I got so angry and frustrated that I honestly didn't know what to do.

I think the main reason for my anger and frustration is that I couldn't see any logic in this, whatsoever.

Edited November 21, 2012 by Norden

[Mephistopholes]

Dude, that stuff just happens. Maybe you're run down, or distracted, or maybe it's just a bad day. But it happens. Just rest, come back next time with confidence and try again.

[Autolupus]

Maybe your body was just hijacked by the dead spirit of a twelve year old girl!

jk

Happens some times man!

[Bearcat 74]

When this stuff happens I have learned the best thing for me to do is scrap the workout and then pickup back regular on my next training day.

You are not going to get any weaker from missing one day of training, you may get stronger/more rested/fewer injuries but not weaker.

[mt-tom]

Norden,

That sucks and we've all been there. Sometimes it is explainable, sometimes it is not. Here is what I do. I grind out my workout as planned. Even though I may not do as well as I would have expected, I still grind it out and write down in my log book that it was a bad day. The important thing is to not quit. That always makes me feel like a failure. Even if I have to ramp the workout back a bit, I still forge on. Then, I get some rest, because I might be overtrained, and hit a workout hard the next time, often with a reduced load so it gets my confidence back. I've been through this so many times, I know the strength will come back and a new PR is around the corner despite the temporary setback.

Good luck, Norden!

Tom

[mt-tom]

I must have been typing my response when Heath posted his. My advice is different than his, but he is the better gripper, so go with Heath!

Tom

[Bearcat 74]

Lol, everyone is different and Tom has found what works for him, that's good. Backing off as he suggests is a good idea if you can do that, I know myself and I know I can't back off.

The biggest thing is don't do what I used to do which was get mad and have a fit which honestly put me into punishment mode. What usually happened then is I trained when I was off and I trained myself into the dirt; then I was off for a couple of weeks.

[Alawadhi]

It happens. Don't worrycwe all went through it one day.

[EricMilfeld]

Assuming you were hitting only grippers, you could scrap the gripper workout and replace it with thick bar or maybe some 1" bar timed holds, or whatever strikes your fancy. I've had a lot of workouts where grippers were off for no obvious reason, and yet all my other lifts were strong. Nothing is worse than ending on a sour note.

[eman]

My hands go through this up and down strength problem all the time and I am currently like you frustrated.

Just a month ago I was closing my #2 for close to 6 reps and closing in on the last few mm's of my 2.5 and for the last three weeks I pick up any gripper and seems like I just don't have any strength. I pick up my #1.5 and shut it everyday for 3 to 5 reps and I can usually tell pretty soon I am not going to have a good workout.

I think my grip workouts are maybe too lengthy and possibly too much volume and I am finding that I may need to rest longer. Possible one workout a week and my biggest problem is I am always picking them up almost every day.

Then on the other hand I think I can't possibly be over training I haven't really done a decent grip workout in ten days..so whats the deal!

I am sure it sounds insane but I question everything like I had the flu two weeks ago, I didn't get much sleep the night before, busy at work, etc...

It is frustrating when you pick them up and you just know instantly your strength isn't there. I feel for you man sorry I don't have much advice I'm in the same boat bro.

I do think at least for me that if I get sick (aka the flu/fever ) then it seems to really affect my strength for several weeks.. but maybe I'm nuts

Let you know if I figure it out though,

EMAN

[33wes]

I usually do what Eric suggested, as focusing on what grip or wrist wotk feels strong is effective for me. If it is a large muscle group, like back that is too shot for heavy stiff legs, I may substitute a deadlift variation. If you flat need rest and sleep, listen to your body. :-:-)

[hellswindstaff]

Progress isn't linear, it is wavelike, but the general trend should be upwards. We will all have up and down periods. I know personally I'll set big PRs everyday for about 3 weeks straight then have to deload or my progress will stagnate, then regress, then I'll be injured. Personally, I've found that keeping meticulous notes and dry erase boards of the records very useful for tracking the wavelike trend, so that I can immediately deload when performance dips, this has also helped to keep me injury free.

Edited November 25, 2012 by hellswindstaff

[Shoggoth]

Every times different for me; sometimes I'll grind through it, sometimes I'll just hit the core/main lifts, sometimes just accessories, sometimes something different altogether and sometimes nothing at all but that's the rarest circumstance.

[Forever]

We all have those bad days, just be strong and keep going on...you'll be slammin that #3 in on time again

[patrickmeniru]

Usually if I'm going to have a gripper day, (I can't speak for other grip feats because sadly I don't yet have the facilities to train them) in the morning I'll pick up my #1 and give it a squeeze. Sometimes I close it with absolutely no effort at all and feel like I'm in danger of breaking the gripper, on days like these I'll go really heavy, and work at max or close to max effort singles.

Most of the time I close it very easily with little effort, on days like these I'll train at around 80-85% effort with a little more volume, maybe 1-4 reps for working sets, and a volume set of #1 or #2 at the end.

Every now and then, I'll have planned a gripper day, pick up my #1, close it and it will feel like my #2. On days like these I abandon gripper work. For me it's usually because I'm not fully recovered, but sometimes it's another reason that I can't discern. Either way, I can't see the point training if you're body is essentially telling you it isn't ready.

Edited November 25, 2012 by patrickmeniru

[Justin Matney]

like these guys are saying, don't sweat it.

my work involves my hands pretty extensively, so I might go a week or 2 at a time where my central nervous system is just worn out to where I can barely even set a GHP 7 or Tetting GM. I'm getting stronger though, but it won't show through a workout for some time.

I used to get really frustrated when I would have an off day with grip, but it's such a different animal in ways compared to other types of strength training and you can't really compare them. it involves a good bit of intuition, listening to your body, etc, so learn to do that more and more.

the gains won't come at a logical pace. my strongest closes traditionally come the night after a really intense workout and a long day at work. so the key is be flexible and as consistent as you can and don't lose patience.