I was extremely tired, and this is how I manage to have an amazing workout.
For the last 4 to 5 days I didn't have the best of sleep. Here is how I managed it, especially during the cold times.
Have fun with your workout
It's good to have a plan, but too much restriction is not good. Some workouts for example tells you you have to hit x amount of repetition on your sets. Why? Why don't they give you some allowance of a range of reps. This gives the feeling of freedom and feels more fun.
Every set is an opportunity, not an obligation
Similarly to before. When you see it as an opportunity not an obligation then it is less depressing to carry it out. It is an opportunity to beat your personal best, not just something that you HAVE TO DO so you can tell yourself that you did it.
Warm up before you warm up
Thai is a weird one but one which I think worked time and time again for me. Feeling somewhat cold and then trying to warm up feels like a chore in itself. I like to warm myself up through other means. Yesterday I ate and rested a bit on my bed, where I felt very warm. The room itself started to warm up too. I was not far from breaking a sweat before I warmed up.
The warm up felt more fluid and better. Less sluggish. I felt more powerful and explosive. I did a bit of shadow boxing and I was fast and sharp. That wouldn't be the case if I didn't warm up before I warmed up.
Feeling adequately warm throughout the workout is essential too. This is a good thing to remember if you work out outdoors.
Make warm up explosive
I warmed up my body, then I did shadow boxing for warming up to get my heart rate up and broke a sweat. Then I used the barbell to warm up for the exercise that I will actually do. I made sure the reps I did were rather explosive. Don't just go through the motions. This helps pushing heavy weights quickly when you get to your main sets.
Do not overdo it
The workout sessions should not be too long, even if it is a full body workout. Take adequate rest but not so much that it drags out the session. If you feel that you need that much rest then reduce the load on the bar possibly. Get better conditioning through cardio which should help you get in better shape to handle less rest times.
Long sessions make it feel tiresome to me. Short sessions, filled with fun and PR breaking sets, challenging but without going to absolute failure is perfect.
Get strong as f@@k
This cannot be a choice. You must look to get stronger. It has to be a necessity. If you don't think like that then you are just wasting time being mediocre.
This mindset will help significantly between average results and great results.
Salt water
Note that I am not a medical professional. This is what I DID. I mixed a quarter tea spoon of black salt and had that with warm water. I feel it helps get energy levels up without any calories.
That is pretty much it. Thanks for reading.
Image sources: Google.