You love a good workout session that ends with those last reps pushing you to your limits while making you feel like the champion of the world for completing them. You spend the rest of the day on a high and can’t wait to get back into the gym and crush your workout again. However, some days this doesn’t go quite as planned. You feel pumped up and ready to bang out those heavy reps but instead you find yourself falling a bit short on your rep count or weight. You are not alone. This happens to pretty much everyone, but there are ways in which you can combat this problem–muscle fatigue.
What is Muscle Fatigue?
Muscle fatigue can be brought on by two different factors – a lack of nutrients being delivered to your muscles and a buildup of metabolic waste in your muscles.
- Lack of Nutrients: If your muscles aren’t receiving the proper nutrients and fuel they need during your workout then their ability to contract won’t be very efficient leaving you a couple reps short from your goal.
- A Buildup of Metabolic Waste: When your muscles build up metabolic waste in your muscles, this process sends signals to your body that your muscles have used up the fuel available to them. In response, your body starts to shut your muscles down.
So how can you combat muscle fatigue?
The main idea here is to make sure you keep increasing blood flow to your muscles while continuing to deliver nutrients your muscles need. This means your muscles will keep contracting, they won’t build up metabolic waste, and you’ll keep pumping out the reps.
A great strategy for combating lethargic muscles during a workout is proper pre-workout nutrition. Fasting before a workout isn’t the best choice when you are looking to maximize your reps and strength. Eat something before your workout. A good rule of thumb is to eat a blend of carbohydrates and amino acids. Your carbohydrates can come from fast-acting carbohydrates (aka sugar) like fruit or a pre-workout smoothie and your amino acids can come from a pre-workout.
Not just any ol’ pre-workout but picking out a good pre-workout is key. We made our pre-workout, POW knowing that muscle fatigue is real and important to us. POW is a natural pre-workout that enhances your mind and muscles to help you maximize your workouts. It allows you to work out hard and recover smoothly with clinically tested ingredients. POW also contains CarnoSyn® Beta-alanine, a natural amino acid that helps support muscle endurance and muscle strength and delays muscle fatigue during workouts.
Last, you might want to consider making your workouts shorter. We are all different and perform in different capacities. It might just take some time and patience to see what works best for you.
