Workout Frequency, Energy, and Pre-Workout
Story-time
Energy from the Workout
Energy from Food and Lifestyle
Wrap Up
Storytime
Morning workouts as a plebe(freshman) at the Naval Academy always sucked, especially if we screwed up in some major way the day or the week before. These workouts were led by one of our training officers who would be a Second Class Midshipman (Junior). The life of a junior at our school was to make our lives a living hell. The sophomores having just left their plebe year were chill and acted as our older siblings. The Firsties(seniors) mostly had their minds on graduation/"Getting to the Fleet” and left us alone unless we did something dumb.
This was from a movie that is pretty cringe but will give you some ideas of what our mornings were like.
But our morning workouts could include a number of things: bodyweight circuits, long runs, swimming burnout sessions, or a combination of all. I recall one time after we screwed up our Training Officer, leading the burnout session, stood away from us about a distance of 50 yards and told us to low crawl towards him on our knees and elbows.
We were on asphalt…
Plebes who were a part of a varsity sports team didn’t usually attend and did their own morning workouts so the plebes in these morning workouts were the mostly unathletic folk.
I was somewhat competitive at the time so during these workouts I would always try to run the fastest, do the most push-ups, and perform the most pull-ups. However, there would be times when halfway or 3/4ths into the academic year I’d just be going through the motions.
We did have a drum and bugle corps at the academy which I took part in my first semester but left cause it was not like my high school marching band. There were two others in my company/small-unit who stayed and once in a while, they would show up to our morning workouts if the drum and bugle corps did not have anything that morning.
But when they came I noticed something quite interesting. They would usually be among the higher performers during these workouts and my competitive nature would kick in to keep pace with them.
*At morning muster outside in the cold weather*
Me - “Aw crap, they’re here this morning I guess I can’t slack off today.”
In the drum and bugle corps, as I got to experience in my first semester, we were deprived of working out so much compared to the average midshipmen that when we got the chance to exert ourselves we would go all out.
While everyone else would be burnt out we’d be ready to go.
Which brings me to the main topic of this post.
Pre-Workout
One time when I was working at a commercial gym a young man in the locker room saw that I was a trainer and asked me about pre-workouts to take as well as some of what he’s experienced. I just nodded my head and gave him some generic advice because I don’t know much about that stuff. I never recommended it to my clients. If they were exhausted coming into the gym I’d give them a little easier workout. Everyone has a bad day. Making one workout out of the 8 in the past two weeks easier won’t make much of a difference. Sometimes it might have a positive impact.
I never really needed it throughout my time in college or in the military. Sometimes you just need some mental toughness before you set off on a course of action. Yes, there were armies and soldiers throughout history who took some stuff to psyche them up. But for the average person is it needed?
I believe this stems from our, “I want it now” culture. We wanted 50 pounds of muscle and 100 extra pounds on our bench press a week ago. So to get there we take some stuff to put us in a more heightened state. Does this stuff work? Well looking at various reviews here and there it does. But what’s the rush? Is there another way?
Energy From The Workout
One’s energy for the upcoming workout should have come partially from the last workout. What I mean by this is that you are well-rested and itching at an opportunity to train and improve your body. Just like my company-mates at the academy who were part of the drum and bugle corps or I was for part of that time.
It's not how much you train but how much you improve that matters. If you need to become a Viking berserker every time you jump into your weight session you might want to give it time. Your body knows what it’s doing if you let it. Your muscles might recover quickly enough but don’t forget about the tendons because they take a bit longer. You don’t want them to snap do you? If you train, eat, and pace yourself the right way there will be plenty of energy for you to carry into your next workout.
This is more of a proof of concept and not me tooting my own horn. But I’m cleaning up my technique and getting stronger even though my body is a bit heavier than it was a few months ago.
No grueling workouts. I just send the proper single to stimulate strength adaptions ever so often and this is the result. All forms of training eventually boost your mitochondria(the powerhouse of our cells).
However, although there aren’t many studies on this there is one form of training I believe does this the best…
Energy From Food and Lifestyle
Eat the right foods and you will be full of energy. Eat the wrong foods and you’ll be tired, agitated, and easily manipulated. The foods you want are those high in B vitamins.
Fish
Red Meat
Nuts/Seeds
Dairy
Beans
Bananas
Eggs
And the best is beef liver
As far as recipes go I can provide some but honestly, it’s up to you. We all have different tastes. I’m the kinda guy that dips his French fires in his milkshake…
…therefore you probably wouldn’t want my recipes.
In terms of lifestyle getting out in the Sun, grounding, and limiting our time around the wifi will also yield dividends. But I’m just a layman and can’t speak to much of the science on this stuff.
Wrap Up
If you like taking your pre-workout don’t let me stop you. I’ll get into supplements as a whole soon. But the lack of energy you have going into your workout, like all things, is a symptom of a larger issue.
Thank you for making it to the end and let me know your thoughts below.
Until next time…
