Should I Train When I'm Sick?
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We get the following question every now and then at the gym or online: “Should I train when I’m sick?” Let’s break it down and keep it as simple as possible.
If you’ve got a cold, you train. If you’ve got the flu, you don’t.
For a short video covering this topic - including a short personal anecdote - check out the included video.
Yes, there may be more subtleties to your situation, but this is a good starting point. If you’re congested, you’ve got a runny nose, you’ve got a cough, go train. In fact, if you played sports in grade school, high school, or college, you already know this. You know that - in this type of situation - you’ll feel better when training than you do the rest of the day.
That hour to hour-and-a-half of training might be the only time that day that you actually feel pretty normal. Your nose stops running or doesn’t run as much, your cough improves, you can breathe better, etc. In this type of situation, you won’t feel worse during the training session, and you might actually feel better afterward as well.
“I’m coming down with a head cold” is not a valid reason not to train - it’s just a lousy excuse to avoid doing something challenging.
However, if you’re running a fever, you’ve got chills and body aches, and your insides want to be on your outsides - whether out your mouth or the other end of the plumbing - then don’t train. Things will not go well - it won’t be a productive training session, and you’re going to make things worse for the subsequent days.
It’s worth noting that the barbell never lies - it will tell you if you’re making the right decision. If you start warming up, and whatever initial discomfort you have either remains the same or improves as the weight on the bar goes up, then train on. However, if you start to feel worse as the load increases, call it a day.
This is a simple approach and a very useful one, and as always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
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"What I find horrifying, even more than death..."
/Don't want to be weak, frail, and dependent on others for basic needs when you get older? Sally nails it in this video, and Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains further.
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What is the BEST Time of Day to Train? (it's not what you think)
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A question we get on occasion is “What time of day is the best for training?” This is worth discussing, and we’re going to keep it simple and to the point.
Training in the afternoon or the evening is a wonderful thing. You’re more awake, your work is probably done for the day, and you might even perform slightly better (emphasis on slightly). If you can train in the PM hours, go for it.
With that said, the bottom line is that the best time of day to train is the time of day that you can train most consistently, and for a lot of people, that means training needs to take place in the morning.
After all, consistency is the most important factor in your training - you can have the greatest technique and programming in the world, but if you’re missing workouts, your technique and programming don’t do you any good. If you need to train in the morning to make it happen, then the AM hours are officially your best time to train.
Some people object with, “I don’t want to train in the morning - I’m not a morning person.” Knock that off. Nobody who trains in the morning is a morning person. Nobody walks in our doors at 5:15 a.m. bounding with joy, sunshine, and bubbles.
Lifters who train early in the morning aren’t morning people any more than you are; instead, they are simply people who know they might not be able to train later in the day, and they are committed to not missing their training sessions.
Not surprisingly, waking up early to train can be rough at first - any new routine often is - but after you’re done it for a few weeks, you’ll have established the habit, and it’ll be far easier. On top of that, you’ll appreciate having consistently hit your training sessions, which means you’re keeping one of the most important kinds of promises - the kind you make to yourself.
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
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Would You Rather . . . ?
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(This article was originally published on the Starting Strength website on 03/12/20.)
This article is not for you, my friend. Oh, you should read it. You should absolutely read it. But it’s not for you. No, this article is for your mom. This is for your grandpa. It’s for your husband or your wife. It’s for your cousin or your close friend. You, my friend – you train. If you didn’t, you probably wouldn’t be reading this article in the first place. This article is for anybody in your life that needs to train but does not.
You know the person I’m talking about. She’s your favorite aunt who “would love to get stronger,” but she hurts too much to train since she has arthritis. He’s your 83-year-old grandpa who has trouble with his balance due to the neuropathy in his feet. He’s your old college buddy who just can’t do as much as he used to because of his bad shoulder.
You need to ask this person a very simple question: Would you rather?
Arthritis is a bad deal, but it’s not going anywhere, so you have to ask your aunt, “Would you rather have arthritis and be weaker, or would you rather have arthritis and be stronger?”
Plantar neuropathy in the feet will wreak havoc on a person’s ability to get around safely, but balance issues improve – often dramatically – when people strength train. So you have to have a conversation with your grandpa, and in the end, you have to ask him, “Would you rather have neuropathy and be weaker, or would you rather have neuropathy and be stronger? You’re going to like being stronger, Grandpa.”
Your college buddy with the bad shoulder? Well, at the very least, he still has three other perfectly good – and trainable – limbs, so you have to ask him, “Would you rather have a bum shoulder and be weaker, or would you rather have a bum shoulder and be stronger?” With the guidance of a Starting Strength Coach, I bet you he’ll be able to train that shoulder as well, but he won’t believe you on that just yet, and that’s OK. Give him time, and get him thinking.
“Would you rather?” It’s a simple question, but it’s a powerful question. It’s powerful because these people have never asked themselves, “Would I rather be weaker or stronger?” And because they’ve never asked themselves that question, they don’t know that those are the only options. Weaker or stronger? But you know. You train. You chose stronger, and you’ve become stronger. You know that a life lived stronger is a life lived better.
You don’t need to convince these people. You just need to ask them. “Would you rather have X and be weaker, or would you rather have X and be stronger?” Put the ball in their court, and you might find this question to be pretty compelling.
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)
If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.
At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?
Your Most Important Piece of Training Gear - Part 2 (Lifting Gear Series)
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In Part 1 of this mini-series, we discussed why the training log is your most important piece of equipment. Today, let’s cover how to set one up and correctly use it.
Be sure to check out the included videos as they also cover some additional material not included in this article.
This is the seventh article in our “Lifting Gear” series. Click below to read the previous articles in the series:
Lifting Gear: What to Wear and What NOT to Wear!
Lifting Belts: The Complete Guide and What NOT to Get!
Knee Sleeves: The Complete Guide and the BEST Way to Put Them On
Wrist Wraps: The Complete Guide and How NOT to Put Them On!
Lifting Shoes: The Complete Guide to the Best and WORST Shoes!
Your Most Important Piece of Training Gear - Part 1
New Week? New Page
A few basic guidelines make keeping an effective log straightforward and simple, and my first recommendation is that every week gets its own page. Whether you train two, three, four, or even five days per week, you can fit all of your training data on one page if you’re committed to doing so.
If you don’t finish that week’s training - suppose you’re supposed to train Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but you missed Wednesday’s session - don’t use the unused space on that page to start a new week. If it’s a new week, then use a new page.
How to Setup the Page
At the start of the week, divide that week’s page into the appropriate number of sections. For example, if you train three days per week, you’ll draw two horizontal lines - one line a third of the way down the page and the other line two-thirds of the way down the page - to divide your page into three sections or “boxes.” This will force you to fit all of a given day’s training into a reasonable amount of space and will ensure you don’t run out of room at the end of the week.
Day and Date
In the upper left-hand corner of each section, write the day and the date of the workout - for example, “Mon, 08/19/24” if you’re training on Monday, August 19, 2024 will work just fine. The date is a must - you need the ability to look back and know exactly when a certain session took place.
Component #1: Prescription
Suppose today’s session consists of the squat, press, and deadlift. Set up three corresponding columns inside today’s box for those lifts. With the squat as the sample lift, you start by writing down the first component of the lift, which is the prescription for the day, i.e., the name of the lift and the planned sets and reps. For example:
Squat
3 x 5
This ensures that you’ve recorded the goal for the day, which is to squat 3 sets of 5 reps.
Component #2: Warm-up
Since you already know what you’re going to load on the barbell for your work weight (since you’re able to look back at your last session in your log), it’s time to write out the second component of each lift - the warm-up. If your work weight for the day is 235 lb, your warm-up might look like this:
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 3 x 1
185 x 2 x 1
215 x 1 x 1
Separate your prescription from your warm-up with a short line, and with this done, your training log now looks like this:
Squat
3 x 5
—-------
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 3 x 1
185 x 2 x 1
215 x 1 x 1
Component #3: Work Sets
Now, it’s time to record the data for the work sets, which will be 235 lb x 5 reps x 3 sets. As a result, you have the following in your log:
Squat
3 x 5
—-------
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 3 x 1
185 x 2 x 1
215 x 1 x 1
—-------
235 x 5 x 3
Remember the golden rule of lifting notation, which is that the number of reps is always the second number written down - watch the included video if this is confusing.
Component #4: What You’re Going to Do Next
You squatted 235 lb today, and you successfully completed all of your work sets, so your next session will move to 240 lb, and thus, your training log looks like this now:
Squat
3 x 5
—-------
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5 x 1
135 x 3 x 1
185 x 2 x 1
215 x 1 x 1
—-------
235 x 5 x 3
Next: 240
This would also be the time to note any upcoming programming changes. For example, perhaps you’re planning to squat 240 lb for a top set of 5 reps and then move on to 2 back-off sets of 5 reps - this “Next” section is the place to note it. Don’t walk out of the gym without writing this part down. Ever.
If you’re only performing one set at a given weight, the “1” at the end of the notation is optional. If you’d like to be a bit more concise, you can write it all out as shown below:
Squat
3 x 5
—-------
45 x 5 x 2
95 x 5
135 x 3
185 x 2
215 x 1
—-------
235 x 5 x 3
Next: 240
What Else?
You’ve got your prescription, your warm-ups, your work sets, and what you’re going to do next, so what else is there to write?
For starters, write down any cues that you want to use for your next session. “Midfoot,” “knees out,” “stay in your lean,” are all examples of cues that you might want to write down so that you remember what you’re working on the next time you lift.
You can also record how the training session went that day. Something like “235 felt pretty heavy today” is very satisfying to look back at 6 months from now when 235 lb is just an easy warm-up.
Lastly, it’s a good idea to keep a PR sheet. Set aside one page in your log on which to record your PRs - 1-rep PRs, 5-rep PRs, what you’ve done in training vs what you’ve done at a meet, etc. This is an excellent way to look back and measure your progress.
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)