“Fatigue makes …

“Fatigue makes cowards of us all!”

Just wanted to share this immensely simple, yet terrifyingly true quote.

I heard it during a conversation with someone a few weeks ago who is a life coach by profession. He also stressed just how validated the quote was!

Most of us who train, exercise and generally keep our health foundations as top priority (or at least top 3) will have had some degree of experience of fatigue rearing it’s unsightly head and trying to make a coward of you.

The term “coward” can refer to any situation. But, I’m applying it to fitness, training and nutrition because……..well, it fits snugly.

Ever notice as you hit the eighth rep in a set (using a correctly challenging weight) your body just doesn’t want to maintain optimal technique? It wants to cower and go to other muscle groups for assistance. This is a prime example of cowardice in the form of fatigue!

Ever notice when you haven’t slept as you’d have liked, you go the next day with slightly more cravings and slightly less regard for “clean” foods? Suddenly you find yourself convincing yourself that you can “get away” with some junk food or that quick fix chocolate bar. Here is fatigue rearing it’s ugly head again! Your body hasn’t slept and therefore Cortisol is high, now your body is a miraculous machine. I once heard a great doctor say; “Whoever created the human body is the real definition of a genius!”

Who can disagree?

So when Cortisol is high, your body knows it needs an Insulin boost in order to counteract the high Cortisol. Therefore, those little cravings for sugar start seeping into your conscious mind. Nothing raises Insulin like sugar does!

So remember this magic line……….”fatigue makes cowards of us all” when you next find yourself near the end of a set and your form starts breaking down. Try to hear that sentence in your head, realise it’s only fatigue and make an extra conscious effort to maintain form, because it’s in these moments where the real results-producing magic happens!

Same applies to nutrition, if you’re on the road and tired, you feel you need a re-fuel in the form of sugar/sweets or anything of a high-glycemic nature. RESIST! Play that sentence in your mind…….”FATIGUE MAKES COWARDS OF US ALL” recognise it’s the fatigue that is encouraging you to break, encouraging you to make a cowardly decision in the form of poor eating. Instead, opt for quality protein and fat. Or even some clean, low-glycemic carbohydrates.

Recognise moments in your life where fatigue indeed makes a coward of you and strive to resist as best possible!

Log that sentence in your head the next time you find things getting a little testing It’s a perspective I myself am just starting to implement and it works wonders! Especially when it comes to tough, lactic acid inducing workouts. Those last few reps, say that sentence over and over!

Will fatigue keep making you a coward?