It’s been five days since I set foot in a gym. Five days since I broke out in anything but a nervous sweat. Five days without having my trusty heart rate monitor tucked under the girls like the worst push-up bra ever. Okay, so that last one is really kind of nice.
Anyhow, in honor of five whole intentional exercise-less days I give you…
Five Things I’ve Learned (because some might wonder if I ever do)
1. I really was over trained. I’m guessing from the deafening sound of hands smacking foreheads that no one but me was surprised by this. I’ve spent the past five days sleeping nine hours a night plus daily naps. During my wakey time, I’ve been eating everything in sight which, surprisingly, has not caused me to gain any more weight (not that I’ve lost those stupid nine pounds either though). And in case I needed further evidence that my body was tired, I’m still sore. Everywhere. My lats are so tender that I keep poking them just to make sure they still hurt, like one does with a bruise or a loose tooth.
2. Lots of you have also been over trained. The response I got to my confession was overwhelming. I literally sat at my computer and cried reading all of the thoughtful, kind and gently reprimanding comments. (It’s been a weepy five days, what can I say?) I am constantly amazed at the wealth of knowledge you people are. Such fitness luminaries as Nickel, MizFit, Gena, Lethological Reader, Molly, Fitarella, Bethany, Gym Buddy Mike, Rachel, Godivagirl, Susan and the recalcitrant Kirez all (mostly) ‘fessed up to falling into the same trap I did. Thankfully they all recovered and came back the better for it.
3. You guys are smarter than I am. All of you had supportive, interesting and enlightening things to say so I have to highlight some of them:
AT22 – “You are very familiar with eating disorders, so what is your take – is this basically the same mind set? Is our push to exercise hard and get “fit” a control issue or have we moved past that into something else – fueled by media and a fitness industry fixated on looking good? Is it related to OCD (and is that a control thing)?” My answer: Um, yes and yes.
2bestrong – “Think about your personality for a split second. You won’t let your body ‘go’, you just wish and want it to disappear immediately. The single hardest part of all this is having the patience and discipline to simply do nothing (something you just can’t compute).”
Rachel’s Boyfriend – “Getting in shape is a JOURNEY. EAch day you learn more about yourself and what you can do. If you need to rest one day, you rest. You have your whole life to get in shape.”
Lethological Reader – “Finding a balance in life isn’t always easy, but sometimes our bodies have a way of herding us in the right direction.”
Molly – “I’m currently in a state where I’ve overtrained myself into low iron, low bone density, and a couple of stress fractures. Why can’t we be easier on ourselves? (this is not a rhetorical question) I exercise because it “makes me feel good” and “is good for me” — but you know what, it’s not really, anymore! Taking a day off training involves something like a multiple-personality conversation in my head: “You’ll feel better if you rest.” “But I’ll gain weight/lose endurance/feel crummy!” etc ad nauseam. Have I learned anything about listening to my body? I’m petrified the answer might be no.” I’m right there with you, Molly. And I’m sorry that I don’t have a good answer to your question.
Kat – “And at the end of that week, I discovered that I’m better off now than I was. The rest really did me some good! Starting up again felt fabulous and I have more energy and stamina than I did before. I also noticed, believe it or not, some muscle gain. I think resting gave me time for some growth.”
Kirez – “In the spirit of purism, I’d like to point out that “overtraining” is better referred to as “under recovery”.” As always, your distinction is correct.
Alice – “Maybe we’re just normal, maybe we are the only 2 nut bags, but at least we are not alone.” So glad to have company, girl!
4. I have to change. I’ve got to rework my whole exercise mentality before I go back to working out or I’m just going to do this to myself again. I may be a slow learner sometimes, but hopefully I’m catching on now. Lucas, in speaking of his own over training experience, summed up this paradigm shift beautifully:
Since then, I’ve changed my mindset when it comes to exercise: Exercise destroys your body. That’s what it does. It rips up your muscles, ligaments and tendons, stresses your bones and basically screws with every important system you have.
Exercise is only good because it leads to recovery. Your body repairs all the crap you did to it, then does a little extra work to make you fitter because it knows you’re just going to keep on trying to destroy it with exercise.
So the point of exercise is to give your body a reason to do good things to itself while you rest. Without rest, exercise is pointless. That mindset has helped me be much more reasonable in my approach over the past few years.
Godivagirl actually suggested getting this as a tattoo. It’s not a bad idea. A little long perhaps. But hey I’m not using my back for much these days;)
5. Overtraining is actually two words. Over training. Every time I reread my post, I get irritated. Who makes up compound words willy-nilly like that?? Only a girl who is not in her right mind;)
So Tuesday will conclude my Great Non-Fitness Experiment. Although I’m not sure if I’ll be ready to go back then. On one hand, I’m already going crazy without exercise. But on the other hand, I feel like my body is still actively recovering. I guess I’ll see how I feel then. In the meantime, I’ve had plenty of time to read up on new experiments so when I do go back I’ve got some fun ideas! Thanks again to all of you for making this less difficult than it could have been.
Charlotte,
Congratulate yourself for looking within and taking the time to learn about yourself, something most of us take for granted.
You also are very open to ideas and suggestions which says a lot about how important this is to you.
Have faith and strength in what you and your body are capable of doing.
And no matter what you do, or don’t do, remember. You’re not alone.
I love Molly’s comment: “Taking a day off training involves something like a multiple-personality conversation in my head.”
Sooooooooooo true.
It really sounds like your body is recuperating, and you seem to be very self aware in the process. Kudos for that.
There is more to learn from a little crash and burn experiment sometimes…
as always you are CHANGING people’s lives by sharing your fitness experiments.
I’m so proud of/for you! I think Mizfit hit the nail on the head with her comment. You’re wonderful!
Very nice, Charlotte! What’s the point of going through things if we don’t learn from them, right?
Your readers are awesome! Such great words of wisdom and encouragement from everyone, and I’m sure your post and their comments helped many other people as well.
So glad that you are recovering and learning more about yourself as you do it!
Some days you just have to abstain from working out and practice eating large amounts of food.
I’ve actually perfected it to where I can now do it everyday.
Yaa me.
Charlotte,
A couple things we used to do when I was on swim team that seemed to work pretty well:
1)Having recovery days a couple times a week, where you do your full cardio routine but maintain a low heart rate (120 -140).
2)Replace muscle glycogen within 30 minutes after your workout. A small snack like a yogurt is good because of the protein.
3) Always, always, always warm down after your workout.
Anyway, I have trouble taking days off too. I find that “active recovery” days are helpful, because at least I can stay with my routine. Props for taking time off and reflecting!
Charlotte i really look up to your strength. I admit it i too am an over-trainer. I’d like to say, yea i ve been there and now i am sane and recovered, but i am not. I am getting help for it but i do have low bone density becuase i’ve been non-stop on my feet for so long. I can reverse the damage, hopefully, but know its really good to hear i am not the only one.
woo-hoo lady! so proud & excited for you! You will only come back better, stronger and ready to kick some ass. I’m so glad you decided to take this time for you 😉
*hugs*
You’ve done a lot of people a big favor by writing about your brush with over training, Charlotte!
Don’t rush back into it just because you’ve set an arbitrary deadline for yourself to get back to exercising. If your body says it still needs rest, listen to it! In my experience, you’ll know when you’re ready to come back — you’ll wake up one morning feeling more alert than you’ve been in weeks, and your legs will almost itch because they want to go jump around and do crazy things.
Sorry I’ve gotten so far behind on blog visits that I’m just now catching up.
I’m really sorry to hear about your painful experience. But I think the way you’re learning from it, and using your knowledge to help others who are doing or might be tempted to do the same thing, is so inspiring!
Fortunately (or unfortuately) for me, I’m far too lazy to have run into the over-training problem myself, but I totally get why it would be tempting.
Good luck approaching your workouts with a new perspective!
sometimes ihave to stop and ask myself , “why do i work out?” i remember its so i can be healthy, live a long time, and enjoy my every day life.
how can i do that if im stuck i na gym everyday?
yikes, i accidentally scrolled down to far and saw that freaky girl from yesterdays post. i just got the willies.
I was just reading (ah, can’t remember the source) about sleep being the third pillar of health; the first two being diet and exercise.
I must say that sleep is the hardest for me to control in terms of the amount.
I’m glad you’re getting sleep. Is some of it deep sleep? That’s important. Melatonin helped with that when cortisol levels were high and my sleep patterns were interrupted.
Many hugs for making it through the week!!
Lori
at the risk of sounding condescending, I’m so proud of you for what you’re doing – being loving to your body and allowing it to heal. I know it is hard…trust me, I KNOW. But you are giving yourself a gift…and by writing about it, you’re giving us all something, too. Thanks, Charlotte.
Wow, it’s two words? Dang — you learn something every day around here!
In my doctor-ordered hiatus from running (which was *just* lifted — yikes!) I have found some solace in the “recovery days” Lauren mentions. For example, I’ve found that swimming, while I’m not skilled enough at to get that maxed-out heart rate that I so desperately crave (weirdo that I am), is actually pretty darned hard and more fun than the elliptical. Again, Charlotte–hanks for your honesty on this. Your struggle with this has been on my mind a lot lately as I plot my return to running and (hopefully) better health and balance.
I’m loving all the insightful comments too!
Sounds like you really really needed that rest, and your body must be loving it! 🙂
Just take your time and rest all you need to. Exercise will still be there when you’re good and ready. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your powerful non-exercise experiment!
I love what Lucas said. It is just like I was telling my boys when explaining body building to them: You tear your muscles apart and then the body puts even more muscle inbetween the rips to heal it. But if you don’t relax you just end up with the tears (and that word can be read in two different ways). =)
I’m actually very proud of you for relaxing so well. It must be hard but you are doing it and that counts.
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