GOOD SESSIONS, BAD SESSIONS, AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN

Some days you’re absolutely crushing it, you follow the program to a tee, weights move fast, technique is on point, everything feels great, and you may even leave the gym with an unexpected PB.

Other days? You’re trash, the bar feels heavy, and you walk away from the session feeling like everything went wrong, and that “that session sucked!”

But over your training life, some sessions are going to be great, some sessions are going to be a bit shitty, and the majority of sessions are just going to be average, un-noteworthy. That’s the way it is!

But that doesn't mean those bad sessions are necessarily easy to navigate. But they should be easier over time.

Here are a few tools to help you navigate the ups and downs of training:

1. Shut up the little bully in your head

You know that voice, the one that whispers doubt, or tells you that session was terrible.

Most of us default to negative self-talk, especially after a hard or “off” day of training.

Your job is to disrupt it. When that inner critic starts getting loud, interrupt it. Breaking the loop shifts your brain's perspective.

Take a breath. Talk it out with your coach (they will definitely be able to give you pause & perspective). Practice some reflection, detailed more below.

Know that in the scheme of things, a “bad” session is part of the process.

2. Understand the brain’s response to missed sets or failed reps

There’s a concept in behavioural economics called loss aversion.

The concept basically acknowledges that we most often perceive the impact of a loss as significantly greater than the pleasure of an equivalent gain.

This bias, often summarised as "losses loom larger than gains," explains why people tend to prioritize avoiding losses or failures, over acquiring equivalent gains.

Put simply: losses loom larger than gains.

You might hit a total of 15 solid sets across your session, but those 2 missed sets loom larger in your perspective.

The key is to recognise that these 2 missed sets DO NOT = a bad session. They’re part of the process, not proof of failure.

3. Practice reflection

Because many of us are wired to notice the things that went wrong, reflection is about recognising this as well as acknowledging what has gone well.

It is a powerful tool to zoom out and see the big picture, and is the path towards learning and progressing, and finding positives in what may have felt like a "bad session."

After your session (good or bad), take a minute to ask yourself:

• What went well in the session?
  Maybe you missed your top set, but all the sets leading up to it were solid?
  Maybe 110kg felt heavy and rough, or you had to drop the load by 5 or 10kg, but you got the reps done, and focused on quality.

• What can I improve, and how can I improve it next time?
  There are so many factors that go into a good or bad training session, sleep, nutrition, hydration, psychological readiness, stress from your day, overall recovery, etc etc etc.

What factors could you focus on now, to improve the outcome of your next training session? Maybe nothing, maybe you have done all the things and it was just one of those days, that's okay too.

But, this is how you grow, by learning to see both the effort and the outcome.
Because even on your “bad” days, you’re still putting in the work.
And that matters more than any single number on the barbell.

Training isn’t about having perfect sessions.
It’s about showing up through the good, the average, and the bad, and learning from all of them.

—MWBC Team