Should You Workout When You’re Tired?
Find the difference between fatigued and tired
As a parent, you know that there will be nights when you don’t get any good sleep.
We (Carly & I) are usually past that point in parenthood.
Not last night, though!
So after a really hard Wednesday night spin class and a 2:45 am wake up, was I really gonna make it out the door for a 5:40 am long run?
Fatigue vs Tired
There’s a difference between being tired and being run down. Being tired, to me, is an acute situation. You can get a few nights of good sleep and voila, you’re no longer “as tired”.
But fatigued, that’s a different beast. Being fatigued is like garnering a stress fracture. It didn’t happen overnight. It’s a cumulative condition.
Being fatigued is continually training hard without allowing any time for recovery. It’s more than a week thing - it’s trying to do too much. And it doesn’t even have to be with training - your entire lifestyle can tip you into that constantly fatigued way of life. It’s not a fun place to be.
Training hard when you’re tired is tough, but it’s possible to still have a good workout. The best fix: sleep and recovery. Training hard while fatigued can be good in the short run, but if you’re always fatigued, you’ll start seeing signs that you’re heading for a letdown.
Risks
While there are inherent risks in anything you do, training while tired offers little risks. Sure, you might be a bit more clumsy and off your game, but you’re still likely to have a good workout if the rest of your week and month has been solid. You can definitely show up and produce when you have 1 or 2 bad nights of sleep. Keep this in mind when you have your next race and you get bad sleep - you can still run well!
But fatigued? You’re really risking it all here. Your max potential is limited from constantly being in a fatigued state. You run the risk of burnout from overtraining as well as a much higher risk of injury.
My suggestion if you feel you are chronically fatigued: rest. It might be 2 or 3 easy days (rest days) or it might require an extended break.
Signs You Should Skip
When your training starts to suffer and you notice a difference in how you feel versus how you should feel, that’s when you know you should start skipping workouts in favor of rest.
If I had the option or ability to run long later in the day or move around my off day, I would have done that in this particular case, but since I was running with the Dads, I really sucked it up and got the run done.
Had it been a recovery run or a solo run, you betcha I would have pushed it back to later in the week.
Signs You Should Push Through
The alternative to being fatigued is just being tired. You can still have a good workout while you’re tired. My suggestion would be this: if you can nap and go to be early, get that workout in.
Since I knew I had an off day scheduled for Friday and I really wanted to run with the Dads, I pushed through even though I didn’t feel great.
Listening to Your Body
Your body has all the right things to say, you just have to be willing to listen. I woke up with a body battery of 56 and after my run, it was down to 31. As I’m typing this it’s at a 23. I NEED RECOVERY and I’ll get that through sleep and an off day.
There’s no way around it.
If I were to forge ahead and continue to train, I run the risk of injury (I’m already injury-prone) and having a slump in performance.
In Summary
Training through when you’re tired is okay as long as you give yourself ample time to recover. Listen to your body and give it the rest and recovery it needs. Use your watch data as back up to how you’re feeling.
Use a day off to give yourself even more of a recovery window between workouts (Thursday AM run, day off Friday, Sat PM workout).
Imagine crossing that finish line with a new personal best, the exhilaration pulsing through your veins as you realize your hard work has paid off. That's not just a dream—it's within your reach, and I'm here to help you make it a reality.
You've already experienced the value of my free content, and now it's time to take your training to the next level. With personalized coaching tailored to your unique goals, strengths, and areas for improvement, you'll unlock the full potential of your athleticism.
Send me an email and we’ll get you going on your journey.
On the Blog:
Optimum Number of Running Days Per Week
…And From the Newsletter:
What An Injured Runner Should and Shouldn’t Do
When to Ditch Running In Favor of Cross Training
Quote of the Week:
Some days are beast days, some days are rest days. It's up to you to decide what your body needs.
How to Connect with Me:
Thanks for reading until the end. You can certainly get a hold of me in any number of ways, but if you have a comment about this post, click below.
Do you just love this post? Awesome and thank you. Go ahead and share it on X!