It's Not Linear

Here’s a comparison of how powerful training fatigue can be from one week to the next.

One week ago on a Monday the last set that felt awesome and fluid was at 80kg (~80%) then Monday one week later my final set that looked and felt like that 80kg set was at 65kg (~65%).

So, as much as it sucks to feel this and it’s disappointing since our brains tend to say “I did this last week so this week I want to do _____” remember that this is going to happen. When it does happen it might be worth it to fight it to a certain point, but once you know it’s just not there because you can clearly remember what certain weights feel like when it's at least a decent day then move on.

For each lifter you’re going to have slightly different %s where you can gauge readiness, but for the most part it’s going to be around 75-80% once no longer a beginner (1-2 years of lifting). Keep in mind I am referring to a weight that is a weight you can hit just about every day. Gauging readiness for top % weights would be based off of how ~90% feels, but typically in daily/weekly training we aren't going up to 90%+.

Great day = 80% feeling smooth and fast - almost easy, definitely good for top %s (90%+)

Good day = 80% feeling pretty smooth and decently fast - not easy but not a struggle at all, definitely good for some heavier sets at 85-90%

Average day = 80% feeling decent, but not easy - definitely doable for a few sets here or maybe a couple sets heavier and harder. 85%+ could be fine, but heavier will likely result in sloppy reps or missed reps

Bad day = 80% feels almost undoable and perhaps it is undoable - this is where you either know here or you will find out if you try to go heavier and it’s worse or you miss. It's then best to assess how you feel mentally and physically once this happens… is it so bad you just need to move on to what’s next or do you have the desire and energy to work on some technique at lower weights like 65-70% As nice as a linear progression feels when a beginner it eventually ends. It can't last forever otherwise we'd all be lifting some pretty absurd weights. Week to week is going to feel different and so is day to day. Any quality program is undulated in some fashion based on training frequency and volume and intensity, but even though a coach will try to design programs in a way where the athlete comes in and is able to accomplish all that's planned out there will be times that training fatigue is such that prescribed programming just isn't going to happen. As a coach and an athlete I have experienced this disappointment first hand and dealt with upset athletes many times. I think what's most important when an athlete hits the point in a session where it's just not happening is to keep proper perspective and outlook. Don't fall into a pit of self loathing and despair. Being knowledgeable about how things are for just about every human being training this way is important so the athlete doesn't start to believe there is something wrong with them. When you hit a bad day of lifting it is probably best to consider what you've done in the past 3-4 weeks or so, what's going on outside of training, and is your nutrition up to speed. Just about every time unless there's something medically wrong you will narrow down the 'why' for the bad day pretty quickly. Then if it's nothing that needs fixing, meaning it's just a bad day because over the past 2-4 weeks you've been Snatching, and Clean and Jerking, and Squatting a lot of volume at 85%+, then forget about the bad day. Don't let it follow you to the next session, but also be realistic and remember that if the bad day is because your body and mind need a deload keep in mind that deloading could take maybe 1-2 weeks before you are back to feeling in top shape again AND THAT'S OKAY! Let the recovery process happen. Cut out a set here and there, stay 3-5% lower in top intensity if needed. Go off of how things feel and before you know it you'll pick up the empty bar one day and it'll feel light and you'll have a strong feeling day again. Think about how a peak week or taper week goes when competing. That first day in competition week 85-90% feels doable or maybe kinda bad (I have had comp weeks where I couldn't even do 90% when I was supposed to), but then 5 days later or so 90% feels like butter on competition day. The point here is when you feel that weight feel really bad, whatever the weight is 80% or you know your defining weight, accept it. If you let the recovery happen then it's likely in a few days you might hit a little peak rather than pushing and pushing with sloppy reps and continuing to feel like your performance is trash. I do believe as weightlifters we should fight with weights a bit, but within reason. First, we should have weights that we know we can do each time: we can call these minimums, and I'd say a true minimum is 70%. I have heard other coaches define it as a weight you can do regardless of how bad you feel. I personally use minimums for myself as my backdown weight on a bad day. What I mean is, if I have a few missed reps or a few bad reps but either want to end on a good rep or two or I want to drop and workout some technique flaws I had felt arise then this is the weight I go down to. For me it's 70%. Next, I believe we should know what weight is our defining weight for whether we move forward with gusto or with some caution or, worst case scenario, not at all. For me I can start to gauge where I am at for the day at 80%. I have had sessions where things feel light but the groove doesn't fall inline until around 80%, or I have had sessions where 70% and 75% felt like I'd PR that day then all of a sudden 80% is heavy and the timing is off. It really is around this weight that I establish sort of a game plan for the remainder of my session. If I read myself wrong at 80% then 85% is brutally honest with me for sure. So, when I say 'fight with the weights' what I mean is: I do not believe all training should feel nice and super smooth and easy. It sure is great when we hit smooth solid reps that almost feel easy, but that's not the majority of training. I believe part of training is practicing to finish a pull hard even though it felt heavy, or driving the bar as high as possible even though the weight feels like a ton on your chest. I believe part of training is thinking 'wow that should've felt better' and then trying to do it better. I am not opposed to taking 2-3 shots at a lift if it felt close but wasn't all the way there. However, a lifter does need to be honest with themselves about how a lift felt, and realize when it's better to drop down or move on. A coach helps guide a lifter in this sort of situation as well. And that brings me to my main point: keep your training quality high. It's possible that some days working on finishing the pull when it's heavy is going to be done at 93%, but it's also possible that this practice is going to have to be done at only 80% some days, and what's disappointing and worse is some days it's going to be better to just not even push it if 70-80% just felt absolutely terrible. A lifter needs to know the difference between lifts feeling bad due to cumulative training fatigue or because it's heavy weight and they need to get it together and push harder. I, as a coach, observe my lifters and I have a good idea without speaking to them what their defining weights are. I have also experienced my lifters who have too high expectations of themselves, so I also try to educate them on what's realistic. The goal of training is to accumulate quality consistent feeling repetitions, minimizing sloppy makes and misses, so always have this within your frame of mind. I hope this discussion on how weights can feel from week to week helps put things into perspective for you so that you can start to view good days and bad days in ways that can lead to more productivity leading to more progress.