Fitness Ruts and Burnouts

One of the worst things that can happen to your fitness progress is mental burnout and over-training, which then can lead to nagging injuries–or worse, serious ones.

I was starting to feel the mental burnout creeping in two weeks ago and what did I do: NOTHING. Trainers often say you have to “push through”, or “always give 110%”. Well, I am here to say it is okay to take a break. In other words, take a chill pill. Over the years, I have over-trained myself many times. I remember two years ago, I got so tired of working out that all I wanted to do was eat donuts and watch ESPN all day. This scenario often leads me down the rabbit hole of feeling like a total couch potato and a fat slob.

So how do you stop yourself from getting there? You know, feeling like a total loser because you repeatedly talked yourself out of working out?

Instead of getting to that burnout state, here are 5 things you can integrate in your fitness practice:

1. Be mindful of your workout, focus on quality not quantity–using too many reps or too much weight exacerbates over-training.
2. Incorporate recovery methods like massage and ice (20 mins).
3. Keep a training journal to keep yourself on track–can you tell me what kind of workout you did a year ago? I can.
4. Program in a de-load (reduce your intensity to 40%) week every 4 weeks and/or take a whole week off every 3 months –it takes 4x as long for your nervous system to recover.
5. Fit in skill training like unilateral balance work, juggling or handstand practice to keep things fresh.