It was the middle of March when a friend said to me, “you’d be so proud of me because I have exercised every single day of this year.”
Actually, I was appalled. My immediate response wanted to scream, "Nooooo! Exercising every single day is not good for you!” Instead, I had to gently & wisely explain to my friend how important rest is for our bodies.
Too often, people think that “full speed ahead” & killer workout sessions are the way to a fit body. In reality, a healthy body starts with a foundation of nutrition. Only then can we be concerned with working out for the sake of improving health & physical endurance.
Overtraining leads to injuries, illness & feelings of burn out. People who throw everything from their energy, time & resources into their workouts & go full throttle are typically the ones who also walk away from workouts. No one can continue at a high paced intensity without ever resting. Even professional athletes have scheduled rest days.
This is because the people who know bodies know that rest is crucial to the rebuilding of the muscle fibers that are torn down during a workout.
Exercise is a physiological stressor. It’s usually a good one, but nonetheless a stressor. If you exercise intensely too often, you increase the amount of cortisol in your body, which in turn causes your body to store fat because it thinks you are under attack.
So if we have the right amount of exercise at the right intensity, we get healthier & stronger. Still, if we exercise too much, with too high an intensity, our bodies break down & shut down.
And here’s the thing: you don’t get to decide if you need recovery or not. Your body will decide for you. If you don’t build rest into your plan, your body will eventually force it on you.
People choose to over train for a variety of reasons: possibly they don’t want to be viewed as being weak, they are trying to make up for poor food choices, or they think overtraining will actually make them stronger or faster.
So here’s the best way to get exercise without overtraining:
Do a self-assessment ~ if taking a day off or doing a little less worries you, ask yourself, “what am I doing this for?”, “what are my goals & why," "am I chronically in pain?” If your workouts consistently beat you up physically but don't really get you anywhere with physical goals, it's time for a different approach.
Trust your body & listen to it ~ do a mind-body scan. Lie quietly for a few minutes & bring your focus from your feet to your head. What do you feel? Merely being aware of how your body feels will help you know if you need a break.
Work on balance in your workouts ~ for every tough workout, commit to a less strenuous one. By mixing up your exercise & the intensity of it, you will likely find you get faster, stronger & have more endurance in the things you love to do. If you are always running, then work in a yoga session. Or if weightlifting is your passion, make sure to include some cardio like cycling.
Have fun with physical activities ~ we don’t stop playing because we grow older; we grow older because we stop playing. Somewhere in adulthood, we fall for a belief that everything has to be serious. Go outside & play with your dog. Learn to golf or water ski. Take dance lessons. Do something physical that actually puts all your training to use in real life. Doing this is as crucial to our long-term health as weightlifting.
If you need help figuring out how to make these things work in your movement & life, get in touch with me & I can guide you to how to best incorporate healthy movement into every day.