Why Can't I Always Lift My Max?

Derek Saffold • February 19, 2026

What is STRENGTH EXPRESSION?

Strength expression is our ability to show or utilize the strength we have. We call it expression because in the world of lifting, CrossFit, functional fitness, or training, our ability to show that strength varies. Even though our potential strength is the same, we are not always able to fully express it the way we want. Whether that is hitting a max back squat, doing heavy thrusters in a CrossFit style workout, or hitting that heavy clean complex when olympic lifting, we will not always be able to hit our maxes, this is because of factors outside of just our strength itself.

Why Is It Fluid?

Strength is fluid because there are external factors other than just your strength level that will determine the amount of strength you can express day to day or week to week. We are not robots; we are adapting to many different stressors in our day-to-day lives, whether that is from a hard day at work, a hard training day the day before, poor sleep, poor nutrition, being sick, cardiovascular fatigue, etc. There are so many factors that affect our ability to express strength that it should be the expectation that you see variance, and are not able to hit your potential strength numbers every day. It's not all bad! It also means that our strength expression can go up as well. This happens with consistent training, good eating habits, good recovery habits, etc.

Why And What Kind Of Fatigue Sets In?

Fatigue or underrecovery is the main culprit for negative strength expression. These factors not only affect our ability to produce force but also our movement quality, causing changes as well.

Some of the direct factors that cause the reduction of force are:

Central Nervous System (CNS) Fatigue: This occurs in the brain and spinal cord, which inhibits nerve signals to the working muscles, effectively decreasing force production. These typically happen from either high volumes of low-intensity contractions, like long-distance running, or from low volumes of near-maximal contractions, like lifting 90%+ of a 1RM.
Localized Muscular Fatigue: A type of fatigue that occurs in the muscles and the peripheral nerves, causing less force during contractions. This is a short-term fatigue that occurs during and immediately after sets of resistance or endurance training.

We also have indirect Influences on strength expression:

Altered Movement Patterns: This is typically created from localized muscular fatigue. A great example would be performing a heavy set of farmers' carries before doing cleans. The fatigue from the carries could affect the way you would perform the pull of the clean.
Inhibition of Diaphragm-based Spinal Stabilization: The diaphragm is the muscle responsible for respiration as well as a spinal stabilizer. This means that as our respiratory rate increases, our body will prioritize supplying oxygen to the brain or body, making it harder to brace when lifting.

What Does That Mean For You?

This means that feeling like the same load or speed will feel harder or easier at different times is completely normal. What feels like an 80% effort some weeks or days can feel like a 90-100% effort on others. We are all humans, which means the demands of each day, week, or month can change as life changes, and that means we should have the expectation that our ability to produce force or intensity should change with it. It means that sometimes it is ok to just want to move if you already feel extremely taxed from the week. Listen to your bodies and push when you can, and take a step back when you can't. Consistency is more important than any other aspect of fitness to get results. You can always take focus away from intensity and instead focus on quality.

P.S. Don't take this as an excuse to not push hard during training. Our bodies are also amazing at adapting to what we do. We will adapt to the demands if we give ourselves time to recover.

Keep on keeping on. Bring the intensity, but also be understanding of our bodies.

If you want to talk to a coach to learn more on how we can help. You can book a free 30 min consultation below.

Free Consultation

< Older Post

Newer Post >

March of Dimes Charity Class

By Derek Saffold • March 16, 2026

What is the March of Dimes? The March of Dimes is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health of mothers and babies, with a focus on preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. Learn more about the March of Dimes here. Why is it important to us? We are excited to host a workout in support of the March of Dimes and the South Shore Hospital NICU team. My sister-in-law, Amanda Dougherty, and my nephew, Owen Dougherty, received a lot of care during Owen's premature and traumatic birth. Amanda and her family will be walking on the SSH NICU/SCN team in the March for Babies walk on May 9th, and we would love to support her by donating to the cause and helping other families in need. When's the charity class? We would love for everyone to come join us, no matter your fitness level, in support of this great cause. The class will be hosted on Sunday, April 12th, at 11 am. T-shirts will also be available for purchase as a preorder up until March 27th. All proceeds from registration of this event and profits from all shirts purchased will be donated to the SSH NICU/SCN team under Amanda Dougherty. Donate and Jump into Class If you would like to donate more, you can go directly to Amanda’s page and donate here.

Introducing EL3VATE

By Derek Saffold • January 27, 2026

Ever walk into the gym and not sure what to do? We put together a program to help eliminate that feeling and give you confidence and the accountability to reach your goals. Introducing EL3VATE where we want to EL3VATE your strength, habits, and mindset!

Apex Training Cycle

By Derek Saffold • December 26, 2025

Hey R3VIVE Athletes, The Apex training cycle, going from January 5th to April 3rd, is our next training cycle! This will be the firt training cycle of the new year! this is a chance to refocus and get in some good work to help you reach your goals! lets all work together to crush this training cycle! Functional Fitness: The Apex Cycle is designed to make your year-long strength work truly functional, focusing on controlled, powerful movements, complexes under fatigue, and mandated touch-and-go reps to prepare you for mixed-modal workouts. Our strength culminates in the classic CrossFit Total and the "R3VIVE Other Total," while conditioning features a wide variety of time domains, movement volume builds (like wall balls, toes-to-bar, and burpees), and regular Friday retests of past workouts to track your progress and ensure you perform your absolute best. Build: Designed to bring together all your training from the past year and prepare you for your strongest performance yet. Our strength work will focus on controlled, powerful movements, building you up to test your limits with both the classic CrossFit Total and the "R3VIVE Other Total," which challenges your skill and strength balance. Expect a well-rounded program including unilateral strength, skill work, and core stability, with dedicated days for deadlifts, squats, gymnastics, and varied accessory work to keep you healthy and constantly progressing. For conditioning, we're tailoring the work to challenge you in new ways, featuring a wide variety of time domains and movements, and a specific volume build on common movements like wall balls, toes-to-bar, and burpees. Instead of a standard test/retest, we'll be performing regular retests of past workouts on Fridays, allowing you to easily track your progress and see how far you've come. Our weekly template balances intensity—with short, fast metcons on Mondays—with recovery, incorporating lower impact endurance work on Thursdays, and a strategic taper toward the end of the week to set you up for success on Friday! Partner workouts will wrap up your week every Saturday, bringing the whole community together.