Move on from that Bad Day

As many of you know I am a football coach. I am not a trainer or dietician trying to sell you something or promote my gym or service. There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing that but I want that to be my disclosure statement before my next short article. I am writing articles on Modern Athletic Health to help people and also use it as motivation for myself. There are also some opinions that may not be scientifically proven and the facts I do get I will reference the articles I have read them from.

So, tonight I really hit the wall and there are a variety of reasons I hit the wall. I have been traveling, getting little rest, and have not been eating well. I have not went off the deep end and went on a five day McDonalds binge but I have fallen off the wagon in a variety of ways.

In light of this, I'm going to share with you what I do to get my body right and stop the downward spiral:

1) Hydrate – If you are sluggish, one big reason can be dehydration. Dehydration kills your training and hurts your overall body function. This is especially true if you are normally well hydrated. If you want to learn how it can crush your training check out this link on dehydration. Make sure your urine is always a light lemonade color. There is no excuse for not hydrating properly. If you have trouble hydrating carry a water bottle along with you at all times. When I got home from the gym I drank three 16 ounce glasses of water to hydrate myself.

2) Eat – I am not talking about Pizza or fast food. When I am feeling tired or sluggish I try to eat some foods which are known to boost testosterone. When I say try, I will overdose on food. Tonight I ate a 16 ounce steak. I will have two or servings of a nutri-bullet drink instead of my normal one serving at night. Spinach, kale, carrots, ginger, blueberries and raw honey are the ingredients of choice. Please read about the benefits of Raw honey. Just like many things we have destroyed, so we have destroyed the benefits of honey through mass production/pasteurization. Lastly I will have some casein protein before I go to bed with some milk. I promise when I wake up tomorrow I will feel better. Tomorrow morning I will have another nutria-bullet drink with the raw honey and a protein smoothie. I will also pack some almonds to hold me over until lunchtime where I promise I will make some positive choices.

3) Change up your program or your goals. If you are having poor workouts and fixing your sleep, diet, and hydration don't work, find a new program. I will be going to a quick two week overtraining program before I take a trip to Florida where I will have limited access to weights. Take some pictures of your body and remember to write down some short-term goals. Notice I didn’t mention to post those pictures on Twitter or Facebook!

4) Motivation – For me this consists of music. Change up or develop a new playlist. Great loud music never fails to get you going in the gym.

5) Rest – Bottom line, when you are feeling sluggish, just go to bed. There is no excuse to force yourself to stay awake. Go to bed and wake up ready to conquer the world tomorrow!

6) Attitude – You must have a positive attitude. When you have a bad day just put it in the history books and move on. When you wake up the next day “Win the Day!”