Functional Training Institute

How Tired Is Too Tired?

How Tired Is Too Tired?

This month we have spent a lot of time, looking at fatigue and several different mitigation strategies. Fatigue management is becoming a booming industry in its own right, particularly in the corporate and blue collar markets. Fatigued employees are unproductive and at high risk of injury to themselves and others.  Fatigued clients eventually end up sick or injured, which are not good outcomes for coaches and trainers. In the last articles, we have looked at some objective fatigue measures, in this last article on this topic, we will look at some subjective methods of assessing and monitoring client fatigue.  The question is how tired is too tired to train on that day?  Rather than routinely asking your clients how they feel before training, we can take one step further and use a simple 5-point wellness questionnaire to determine how we tired your client is, how well they have slept, how sore their muscles might be, how their stress levels are and finally what mood they are in. These five simple questions can provide critical insights into your client’s overall wellbeing and then used as a training guide for that particular session. More importantly, overtime you can start to see trends from these conversations, that can help you identify if you have been pushing your client too hard or if there is more room in the tank for a little harder training.

To get started, I highly recommend this wellness survey used by influential sports scientist “Martin Buchheit” and others.  You could have your client copy this into their training diary if they keep one and have them complete the survey before training or you might like to take it one step further and set up a free google form or survey monkey account and have your client complete the form from their phone.  In the final analysis, trainers and coaches should strongly consider implementing a fatigue monitoring program, a tool of education for your clients and an intervention to prevent illness and injury as a result of excessive exercise.

Client Wellness Questionare

How Tired Is Too Tired?

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