How to convert a 'failed' workout to a useful one.

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Mike Channin
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How to convert a 'failed' workout to a useful one.

Post by Mike Channin »

On the main forum, there's a topic on Failed Workouts.

I have a theory that no workout is ever 'failed' as long as you didn't blow up and go backwards owing to injury or overtraining.

Usually a 'failed' workout is the result of getting your pacing wrong, going off too fast, and not being able to hang on.

First tool to help is the Heart Rate Monitor, especially if you have a recent workout with a similar profile to compare to. I check my rates during the piece against the previous piece, and therefore know if I'm REALLY suffering (HR above previous at similar point) or merely feeling a bit weedy. And the confidence of being able to see the HR below the previous piece tells you that you have the pacing under control.

Sometimes I do workouts which are deliberately set for a heavily positive split, otherwise known as the fly-and-die. A good motivation plan for this is to aim for intermediate targets/PBs/SPBs on the way through, and then try to hang on to the full distance, knowing that even if you fall apart quite badly and/or have to stop and restart, you can still sometimes hit the full distance target too. This is a tough plan, as it is effectively setting you up to fail, and quite often I'll fall apart, and have to stop and recover.

But, and this is the important bit, if you've gone right to your limits then there's no way the workout is failed - you will most definitely have forced your body to adapt. It's almost impossible to mentally set yourself up to do a 'to failure' workout - try doing the max HR step test to see what I mean - so anything that gets this level of intensity is a bonus.

And then you can still make use of the row in to the full distance finish. Something I tend to do is interval sprints, 100 on/100 off, 250m on/off, 1 minute, or ascending and/or descending pacing. The great thing is that you've already worked to failure, so anything else you manage is a bonus, and this sets you free to work the body without fear. Also, you've got your system nicely pre-exhausted, so you can get some good lactate tolerance and recovery threshold work done for free.

So there it is - if you fail, make sure you gave it your all, and then make use of the remaining pull in to the finish, and you get double value, with lots of high intensity work, from what you'd previously have thought of as a 'failed' workout...

WARNING: The above ONLY applies to workouts where you fail for pacing/reaching your limits reasons. If you are failing owing to overtraining, you should back off and let your body recover properly before going for high intensity again. If you don't know the difference, you need to learn how to train better - a Heart Rate Monitor and a proper training plan will help.
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johnglynn
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Post by johnglynn »

Good Points Mike, espiecially the heart monitor one (which I'm not in the habit of regularly using yet)

I realise that no workout is a total failure from the point of view of
1 - Rowing at my limit, so my body will adapt as long as I get enough rest
2 - I used some terrible tactic, I'll know better the next time

I realise I'm been a bit argumentative

But ....
IF I plan to row a 2K PB of sub 6:30, which I think (high probability) I can achieve . But I end up going half way and throwing in the towel, and cruising for the second half for a result of 7:30 . I think thats a failed workout . Mainly because I could have rowed a decent 10K that day, which would improve endurance a bit (where I'm weak, and need to up my training in) .

The reasons I fail workouts is generally external, I don't think I've ever been too agressive with my targets. The reasons I fail is because
1 - I'm tired, either generally from lack of sleep, or my muscles are from hard rows in the previous days
2 - Food or water based, too much, too little, wrong types
3 - My mind isn't with it, I'm angry with something and distracted
4 - I do a terrible tactic, I realise I can learn from these but I still make stupid tactical mistakes every now and again.
5 - I've some sort of minor illness

But I do see a big advantage in "failed" workouts, and for me I'd rate it more then the physical, and it's psycological . If I fail to get a target (when I strongly think I should get it) I feel terrible and angry with myself, but it makes it all the sweeter when I finally reach the target.
28, 6'6", 18 Stone - ELM - CTC
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