Balancing Act, Part 2: Listen Up, Buttercup! Chillax!

— Today’s post adapted from musings by Zee —

Are you a little OCD about training every day?

You know who you are…you feel guilty if you don’t get your butt in the gym for your workout, even though your shoulders are still sore from Monday. Your nutrition is not terrible, but you’re behind on some of your macros, and you feel draggy. You show up anyway and shove yourself through, only to wake up feeling even more beat up tomorrow.

Sound familiar? If so, you may be OVERTRAINED.

We see over training frequently in the Wide World of Sports. Elite athletes dial in their training to peak for specific races and competitions, but sometimes they miss and peak too early or late, meeting the competition in an overtrained state. Some near-pinnacle athletes train themselves into the ground trying to maintain top condition, to get to the top – and end up experiencing a performance decline instead. Even amateurs overtrain fairly regularly, especially those who drive through long workouts at 80% effort and end up injured.

Exercise triggers endorphins and positive psychological association, and we can get addicted. We may believe that a missed training day is a missed opportunity to get healthier and stronger. While consistency in following a training plan is the best route to serious gains, working out daily with no rest is rarely the best plan. Stressing the system, and then allowing it to recover, are the keys to building strength; while intensity is grand for triggering gains, recovery is required to take advantage of the effects of intensity, something like casting a line and then reeling in the fish. No reeling, no dinner…no rest, no performance gains.

Strenuous workouts damage tissue. Through proper nutrition and rest, our body repairs the micro tears caused by exercise, and we adapt and grow stronger. Unfortunately, life in the 21st century often gets in the way of proper nutrition and rest. Ironically, our abundant food supply makes nutrition challenging; planning is necessary to navigate the variety of foods available (often out of season), and convenient processed foods are packed with hidden toxins that erode health. Meanwhile, work, school, parenting responsibilities, housework, activities, etc. pack our schedules, leaving us stressed out, rushing around, and not sleeping enough. Aggravations include workplace stress (which is known to deplete your nutrients), skipping meals, alcohol, and even travel. All of these factors can lead to over training, which in turn can lead to injury. That’s why many pro athletes sleep a lot, especially after vigorous workouts. (Must be nice to get paid to sleep!)

Breaking strength barriers and reaching performance peaks requires adequate caloric and nutritional intake, and REST. At DNA, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are our major strength days, and Tuesdays and Thursdays are designated for active recovery through conditioning.  Some weeks are more intense than the others, and even the active recovery workouts may be too much work in between strength days. If you experience any of these symptoms, you probably need a DAY OFF, or more.

After extra rest, if you are consistently following your nutrition plan as directed by our nutrition counselor (David) and are getting adequate sleep without experiencing any of the signs listed above, you may resume working out four or five days each week.