Should I lift if I'm tired? It depends, on your tendencies, goals, experience, normal state, and more. We help you answer for yourself if you should lift today.

You're going to feel tired sometimes. What do you do if you feel tired? Should you train?

It depends.

Niki recently felt tired and ended up taking a nap instead of training. She has learned, over years and decades of training, that this occurs regularly, she knows she will train the next day. Niki loves training and knows she will train the next day.

You may begin to find similar patterns. Remember, though, most people seek to avoid training, so know your tendencies.

Andrew shares a different experience, where for a long period of time he was sleep-deprived and always tired. He has had to learn, over time, that he would feel better after training, but he also had to reduce the expectations. If he never trained when he was tired, he would never exercise. Expecting the weight to go up every workout, however, is creates a loop of disappointment, guilt, and can lead to missed training.

Regardless of your decision, you have to own your decision and your training. If you skip today, own it, know why you did it, and do not let it break your training habit.

If you train, own that as well. Expecting PRs or the prescribed weight and volume may be counterproductive. Rather, aim to maintain the habit.

This is about behaviors and patterns that contribute to your quality of life and long-term goals. This is not about hacks, short cuts, or other snake oil. You have to put in the work over the long haul.

Should I train if I am tired? Find out!

PS - If you're interested in taking online coaching with Barbell Logic for a test run, check it out here.

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Learn about moving your personal training clients online - how to do it and how it improves your online coaching business model & life.

Matt Reynolds interviews Matt Fever, a coach at Barbell Logic, who discusses how we transitioned from personal trainer to professional coach to professional online coach, and how he have moved his in-person clients from in-person to online.

Successfully transitioning your clients from in-person to online makes a ton of sense for your quality of life and business model as a strength coach.

The biggest value of in-person training comes primarily during those initial sessions, when often drastic technique changes need to be made and you develop a relationship grounded in trust, expertise, and benevolence.

As the relationship progresses, however, the value of in-person coaching decreases. Form correction becomes less frequent and less drastic, whereas programming changes become more complicated and necessary.

Asynchronous online coaching allows the client to lift wherever and whenever is convenient, and then the coach to respond within 24-48 hours wherever or whenever works for the coach.

It increases the dollar-per-hour pay to the coach while decreasing the cost to the client.

Matt Fever has made the transition from personal trainer and leader of group classes to professional coach. Attending an in-person lifting seminar with Barbell Logic was a turning point, as Matt Fever signed up for the Academy, started receiving online coaching from Matt Reynolds, and really honed his knowledge and expertise and learned about the online coaching business model.

He has been transitioning his clients from in-person to online. This has allowed him to spend more time with his family. It has also led to his clients having higher compliance, as he can coach when he is on vacation (whereas previously he could not coach and did not get paid). His clients can also lift and receiving coaching if they travel.

Moving your personal training clients online dramatically improves your quality of life and helps you develop a successful online coaching business model.

PS - This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE.

Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper).

Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page.

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Learn how to get your back back after a chronic injury. It takes patience, focus on recovery, and a focus on what is truly important.

You have to remember what your goal is. What matters most to you?

Niki had an emotional attachment, built over years with baked-in assumptions she had to reevaluate, about the need for the weight on the bar to go up on a few lifts in a limited rep range.

She had to ditch this as the metric that mattered.

What she REALLY wanted was to build muscle mass, enjoy the gym, and limit or eliminate pain. Dreading the gym and waking up in pain every morning was not working.

Do you HAVE to deadlift to build muscle mass? No you do not. We love the deadlift, but if the deadlift is causing you to hate your workouts and be in pain all the time, then it is not moving you closer to your goals and you should ditch the deadlift.

Niki also decided to stop BJJ. While she enjoyed it, she was underrecovered and it was not bringing her closer to her most important goals.

Instead of lifting heavy, Niki had to reduce stress and prioritize recovery. This first looked like lighter bodyweight and light implement movements. Then it moved onto machines. For Niki, the jump to machines was huge, because she was able to train hard without making her back worse.

Ironically, the crooked path toward her goal has brought her closer to PRs than the path of beating her head (or maybe her back) against the wall of pain, frustration, and trying to do the program.

She had to train curious and see if the exercise hurt, be ready to modify the weight or range of motion. She had to emotionally detach from weight on the bar. She had to rather focus on other things - did she wake up in pain. Did her back hurt during the workout?

Waking up without pain was a win aligned with her goals that was worth celebrating.

Learn how to get your back back.

PS - If you're interested in taking online coaching with Barbell Logic for a test run, check it out here.

• Matt on Instagram
• Niki on Instagram
• Andrew on Instagram

• Barbell Logic on Instagram
• Podcast Webpage
• Barbell Logic on Facebook
• Or email podcast@barbell-logic.com