Pet Peeve Friday......Over training!

 

 
We have all been there, training mad like 6 days a week and sometimes two training sessions a day. WTF?!
 
Wondering why we don't make any progress, why our bodies are so sore and just cannot seem to get the energy to function. 

How on earth do you expect your body to recover, repair and get stronger/leaner/awesomeness if you keep on stressing it (that is what exercise does) day in and out... your body will keep adding to your fat stores and you won't make any progress because it has NO idea what you are trying to do. Simple, less is more.
 
You cannot out train a bad diet. If you have been BAD this week with food, doing a hundred classes won't fix it.  You need to get back into eating properly. Fuel your body with the right foods that will get you back on track. Then add some exercise.
 
Food first
Exercise second
Rest days should be happening regularly
Do you plan your training schedule against your goals or just wing it?
 
This was sparked by yet another overheard conversation, this time a young, quite small built girl at Hard Candy talking about her cough & cold that won't go away, it has been like three weeks no..... But she continues to do classes everyday, and had done two that day.... both cardio.  I honestly had to walk away..... I bet she wasn't eating much either, because generally anyone doing two classes a day that aren't instructors are trying to lose weight. UGH!
 
Now I am not saying I am perfect, and I did have the same mentality once upon a time years ago,  but one thing I have learnt is that no matter how hard I train, if my nutrition is crap, nothing changes.  I can make changes to my body with only a couple gym sessions a week when my nutrition is spot on. 
 
No energy? So some signs you are over training....

 

• You cannot sleep properly, but are probably very tired
• Your body hurts, feeling sluggish
• You are not making changes to your body - whether you are building or trying to get leaner
• You cannot lift the weight you used to or have the power/energy to complete a class
• You are sick, cannot get better
• Irritability, defensive, depressed
• Unable to concentrate 

Your body gets stressed, you have way too much cortisol in your system that increases insulin resistance and fat deposition!!

So mix over training with not eating good nutritious healthy foods, drinking copious amounts of coffee or alcohol mixed again with late nights is going to get you absolutely nowhere!  I would SO choose another 2-3hrs sleep after a big night out than get up and do a morning double class to "get back on track". Sleep in, drink water, eat healthy foods and go for a long walk in the afternoon.

So if you really really want results, you want to run faster, swim faster, walk further, increase your strength or fit into your slim jeans better, the key is to eat a healthy nutritious diet, reducing processed foods, increasing vegetables (big green leafy ones too), good proteins, mixed nuts, some full fat dairy, fruit and fats together with a couple training sessions a week is the way to go. Start slowly and increase when you need your training to move up a notch. 

Get your diet sorted first, then work on the exercise part.  Have a plan, schedule your shopping, cooking and exercise sessions, flag those days you know will be big ones and plan your food and training around them. Plan your REST days, plan your massages and relaxing treatments! 

Listen to your body.  You have to learn when you can push yourself and when you should rest.  This takes time.  If you have hardly slept or eaten much because you have a cold or flu, going to the gym to smash out a session really is not a good idea.  You need to have adequate fuel/energy to train. That is the key.