Why do my Monday's always feel difficult?

[C. L. Lloyd]

I've been doing SSLP since before COVID and have been back at it since things have reopened here in Virginia. I workout on MWF and I've noticed that for the last few weeks Monday's always seem to be the most difficult. Oddly enough, my Fridays feel the best. Especially when squatting, I just feel kinda rusty and weaker on Monday's. This seems counter intuitive as I would expect after two days rest that I'd feel better than at the end of a week of training. I don't really do a lot on weekends and usually just focus on sleeping and eating well. Has anyone else experienced this and what could possibly cause this sort of issue?

[Oso Rojo]

I get that feeling on the first training day of the week. I chalk it up to I forgot it was heavy, hahaha. I feel the most beat up on the third day but I also feel the strongest and most determine. I'm an older lifter so the dynamics may be different. But yes, I forget the magnitude of the suffering over the two day layoff, hahaha.

[Elle]

I've stopped working out on Mondays and went to a Tues/Thurs/Saturday schedule, and I feel so much better.
Mondays just suck in general, why make them any harder? Lol.

Honesltly though I think the big thing for me is poor sleep Sunday night. On weekends I tend to stay up a little later, so it's a bit of a shock to my system to wake up earlier on Monday. My Whoop sleep tracker consistently lists it as my worst night of sleep, and my recovery score (HRV/RHR) is also consistently the worst.

It could also be stiff muscles, since we all know the third day after a workout is the worst for DOMS. Some active recovery stuff on Sunday, like going for a hike, might help keep your muscles fresh.

[Steven Z]

Same experience here. Mondays are always the hardest. I used to overthink this a lot, but then I started thinking about it more in terms of "outcome" rather than "feeling."

Yes, training on Mondays often "feels" harder. Do I hit my numbers though? How was my form? When I actually go back and watch my lifts and look at my log I realize that how I "feel" has little to do with how the workout actually goes. Most of the time anyway. That has just been my own personal experience.

The big takeaway for me is that I don't need to get psyched out about how I am feeling before training. I know that as long as I put myself under the bar and do the work it will turn out alright in the end. Plus I always feel like I accomplished more on days when I didn't want to train than days when I was chomping at the bit to lift.