How do you recognise fatigue and poor form while you exercise and what to do about it?

This morning I was watching the women's marathon at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. I caught the last 5 kilometres of the race, dominated by two incredible women from Kenya and closely followed by an American athlete in third place.

The commentators were talking about the gruelling race. 42 and a bit kilometres, 30 degrees heat and high humidity. You could see the struggle and fatigue in the athletes.

What struck me was how in the last few kilometres, the athlete’s form deteriorated, due to fatigue. The commentators pointed this out too. One of the top two athletes suddenly started swinging her arms more and developed a rotation movement in her torso. The struggle was visible in her performance.

It was interesting to see that even top athletes are not immune to suboptimal form. I have to point out that these athletes would have a team of professionals helping them remove the tension in their bodies after such race and help them with recovery.

The average person does not have this luxury.

When we push too much at the gym or lift too heavy a weight, run for a bit too long or over do it in any way, our form will deteriorate. It is given. You probably felt it on that last rep that didn’t feel quite right. Or in that last kilometre of your run when your legs feel heavy and core is tired.

I know that when I surf beyond my conditioning and endurance, my form falls apart. I cannot lift my body high enough off the board to paddle efficiently, my pop up gets slow, clumsy. A few times, I felt tension in my lower back after a long surf. All clear signs of poor form and the side effects of fatigue.

Do you recognise a poor form in yourself while you exercise? And if yes, what do you do about it?

Exercising with suboptimal form will create tension in your body which will eventually lead to aches, pain and eventually injury. 

So what do you need to do about it?

1. Tune into your body while you exercise and pay attention to your form. How does it feel? Are you solid? Engaging all the right muscles. Is fatigue setting in? Is it all falling apart?
2. Once you recognise you are no longer exercising, or moving, with perfect form, refocus and give it one more rep, or a little more time. From experience, my clients often lose focus which leads to less than optimal  form.
3. If you still cannot correct your form after that one refocused repetition, stop and take a break. You can also downshift by grabbing a lighter weight or simplifying your movement.
4. If you are doing other activities, like running, surfing, or walking, tune in and assess how well you are moving throughout the whole session. Is there any additional movements you are doing to compensate for fatigued muscles (like the runner in the marathon race). 
5. The way you are breathing will tell you a lot about how you are coping with physical exercise. Once you start breathing heavily and lose the ability to talk, your form and technique will start falling apart. 

So, what is the takeaway from this short blog?

Shortening your workout or sport performance on a particular day will not matter in the long run. Getting injured most certainly will!