For the past few weeks, training has been a chore. I Don’t Want to Train Anymore. You’d think I am exhibiting classic signs of overtraining but I am not. I don’t think. Let’s look at this and see if you are overtraining. And then figure out how to get past it.
Classic Signs of Overtraining
- You are getting injured
- You are exhausted
- Your body hurts all the time
- Sleeping is difficult or near impossible
- Excessive sweating
- Everything is stiff
There’s more, but these are some of the most prominent ones. However, there is one that is often left out because it really isn’t related to training, but affects it greatly.
Stress levels and management.
Now, going back to my case, I said getting through a training session has been almost like torture. It takes forever to feel like I am warmed up, my joints hurt, everything feels heavy, and there is just no desire to train.
Having no desire to train is the biggest one for me. It is odd. I always want to train. I love it. I’ve never experienced this before and I think it is related to two things. Pay attention here because if you feel like you are over trained, a little thought on why will help you get through it.
One Reason I Don’t Want to Train Anymore
I can’t squat, deadlift or do virtually any lower body. Yes, my hip injury is improving greatly, but I still want to go in the gym and smash weight. Not being able to do the things I love seems to have taken the desire to train.
Another Reason I Don’t Want to Train Anymore
This took a lot of thought and I hate saying it.
Stress.
I’m not one to complain about stress. I am one to complain about my injury, traffic, stupidity and more but I am working on getting better at that.
Stress is a killer. Literally.
Poor stress management can shorten your lifespan. There is more than enough research on it, so I am not going to get into it. Look it up or take my word.
Without getting into the things causing me stress, let’s just say that every time things start going good business wise, a new bomb goes off. I’ll bet that most small business owners get this.
And when you own your own business, you can’t just switch it off when you get home. It takes a toll.
Let’s get back to the list of I Don’t Want to Train Anymore: Classic Signs of Overtraining
If any of these apply to you and you have lost the desire to train, or it feels like a chore, there are things you can do.
The first thing I suggest is to take a week, two, or maybe three off from training entirely.
I am not saying that you should sit on the couch and binge the Netflix.
I am saying just don’t train! But you should still be active. Go for a walk. Play with your kids or your dog. Find something to do that makes you move your body as best as you can.
Next, look at the quality and quantity of your sleep.
We need at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep for optimal health and recovery. Are you getting it?
Here is a simple task I give to clients when they tell me they get less than 8 hours of sleep.
Go to bed 15 minutes early for two weeks, and then add another 15 minutes until you are up to 8 hours of sleep. This is an easy way of getting to 8 hours.
Let’s say that you get 6 1/2 hours of sleep and I told you to go to bed an hour and a half earlier; that would be tough and most likely lead to failure.
But if you do it in small chunks over the course of a few weeks or months, it is very manageable. It’s like the old adage of eating an elephant.
How do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time.
This applies to any large task that you have. Try it.
Next on my list of I Don’t Want to Train Anymore: Classic Signs of Overtraining and how to fix it is:
Get some recovery therapy.
Go get a massage, or some cupping or dry needling. These modalities work wonders.
And look at your nutrition.
This is huge one.
I can tell you for a fact, that when I am under greater stress than usual, my nutrition suffers. I’ll eat more junk than usual, and that has been the case for the past few weeks. I’m not choking down cannolis by the dozen, but I am not eating as good as usual and I can see it. Visually in my waistline and mentally.
Food is one of the biggest crutches we have and under stress, we revert to comfort food of whatever type it is individually. Food is like a computer. Garbage in, garbage out. Your body and it’s performance/recovery will suffer with a poor diet.
Without getting into a full on nutrition article, let me just say that you need clean, real, unprocessed food that did not come from a package or get delivered to your house. It’s not rocket science.
I think these are the most important factors to look at when one is over trained, but I left this one for last.
Your Program
Your program may be the cause if your overtraining.
- Your intensity might be too high.
- Are you taking maxes all the time? Are you failing at lifts frequently?
- Your frequency may be too high
- Do you Squat, Bench and Deadlift every session?
- Are you constantly training to failure on Accessory work?
- Do you train seven days a week?
Look at your program and do it with an unbiased eye, or have a GOOD coach look at it. If you have a coach and they are driving you into the ground every session, get a new one.
Now that we have that covered, here is what I am going to do for the next few weeks.
First, I am not taking my own advice on not training at all.
Why?
Because if I don’t get up at my scheduled training time and do something, I will not get up from my desk for 8-10 hours and that will just make everything worse. So, I am going to drag a sled for 10 minutes the first week very light (25 pounds) and add 5 minutes a week for three weeks to a month. After that I’ll do some pushups, inverted rows and some abs. Then, I’ll do my prescribed Physical Therapy exercises and some mobility.
In about three weeks, I’ll reassess and see if the desire to rain is there. If it is, great. If it isn’t, maybe I’ll just go for walks for a week or so. Hopefully by then, things will be back to normal.
If any of what I said applies to you, use the Old Man Conjugate: I Don’t Want to Train Anymore advie here and evaluate why, and then fix it.
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Vincere vel mori
C.J. Murphy
July 14, 2022
