Training Isn’t About Perfect Days: Effort > Outcome
"That Should've Felt Easier" Trap
Every serious lifter knows the feeling: you hit a weight that should be light, but it feels like an anchor. The barbell seems heavier than it should, the movement is slow, and your mental energy is drained. You wonder, What am I doing wrong? If you’ve ever hit a lift and thought, “That should’ve felt easier than it was,” this is for you.
In weightlifting or any real training, there will always be an exchange of energy and effort. No matter what you do, you will have a recovery debt, an obligation your body must repay after any given session.
With that in mind, how do we define a good session or a bad session? After years as both a coach and an athlete, I’ve come to one conclusion: The true measure of a great session isn't the outcome; it's the effort.
"Good" and "Bad" Sessions
If you asked ten people to define a bad training day, you’d likely get ten different answers. For me, the definitions are simple and focused purely on effort:
What Defines a Bad Session?
A bad session is one that never challenged you. It was almost too easy. It’s the session where you walked in, and couldn’t be bothered with it, and never truly tried. You left feeling fine, but you didn't actually try.
What Defines a Good Session?
A good session is one that challenges you. Otherwise, what's the point? It’s the session you showed up for, no matter how tired you felt, and you tried as hard as you possibly could. This might mean you had to lower the weights, or perhaps you had a couple of misses, but you accepted the challenge and battled through.
As a coach and an athlete, I care more about the effort. If I go into training and give it everything I’ve got but still don’t get the outcome I wanted, sure, I might be a little frustrated. But I am still happy because, no matter what, I still tried.
I feel the same pride watching my athletes. If I see them really battling and trying to overcome a difficult lift, I never feel prouder, no matter what weight is on the bar. I love to see people face a "tough" session head-on and accept it as a challenge. They try to push through, they stay composed, and they try, try, and try again. Sometimes you overcome it, and sometimes the barbell wins. That’s okay, but at the end of the day, that effort makes it a great session. Some might even say…… It's good for the soul haha.
The Energy vs. Effort Battle
Now, remember that recovery debt I mentioned earlier? No matter your level, there will always be a battle between your available energy and the effort you apply.
Some people might come into training on a Monday and everything feels light and fast. Then they repeat that exact same session on Friday, and it all feels hard. They may not be able to hit the same weights.
Why is that? Is that failure? No.
It’s just that recovery debt is building up over the week. The cumulative stress of your job, poor sleep, a tough session on Tuesday, or even just skipping meals all contribute to that "recovery debt." By Friday, your body is effectively demanding payment.
But here’s the key realisation: You can't expect to always feel 100% recovered, even if you do everything perfectly. In weightlifting, especially, we constantly hit relatively high intensities throughout the week, which places a high fatigue demand on the body. You could nail your sleep, nutrition, and stress management, and still feel under-recovered on a given day. That's just the nature of intense training.
The lifter who fails to hit the same weights on Friday hasn't suddenly become weak. They are simply facing a session where their available energy is low due to accumulated fatigue. This is why effort is everything.
The person who accepts the challenge, and still tries, who stays composed and pushes through on a lower-energy day, and accepts that sometimes they may have to lower the weight, is the one who is truly getting stronger. They’re building mental toughness and consistency, which are more valuable than any single personal best.
The Takeaway
I am not saying that old cliché, “The days you least want to do it are the days it matters most.” Please don’t take that rigid message away when reading this blog. What I want you to take away is:
A good session is a session you feel challenged in, no matter what weight is on the bar. Accept that challenge and be proud of your effort no matter the outcome.
A bad session is a session that you never actually tried in or one where you decided to give up.
There will always be a recovery debt from a session. You will always battle how much energy you have and how much effort you can put in. Always try to bring effort into your sessions, but sometimes you have to learn to respect the recovery debt. Focus on recovering better, but remember a perfect, rigid routine doesn’t always equal a perfect session. Be flexible.
And if you take away anything, remember that a tough session that you try to push through will always be good for the soul.
—MWBC Team
