Tired legs: you should still start your workout

Should you hop on and try that workout when you wake up and ugh! you have that feeling of tired legs? You know, that feeling when they hurt walking up and down the stairs? Yes, part of training is creating some fatigue in the body. Recovering from fatigue, with proper rest, allows your body to adapt and improve. Managed fatigue is part of the training process.

When you wake up feeling tired don’t just pull the plug on your training for the day. You need to hop on and try your workout. Take the time to warm-up. Start out easier than you might normally, and perhaps extend it a little longer than usual. Hopefully by the end of your warm-up the legs are feeling better. If not, it is still worth trying a bit of the workout. Again, maybe don’t go right to the wattage target to give your legs more time. Only once you have tried a bit can you know whether you need to reassess your training.

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A personal experience

When I was racing full-time, the fitter I got the longer it took to warm-up. One extreme memory stands out. It was the final stage of the Tour of Ringerike in Norway. I was flying, having won a stage earlier in the week. But, on this final stage as we started my legs felt terrible. For 100km I was yo-yoing on and off the back of the peloton, my team-mates encouraging me to hang on. Then suddenly, as we rolled into the finale of the stage, my legs woke up. I rode with the best on the day and managed to pull out a 3rd place finish!

All this to say, when tired you should still hop on the bike. You might surprise yourself and end up having an amazing ride.