Do your workouts wear you out??

 

Cathy recently posted a common question about how to respond when some days you just feel too tired to do what you normally do for your workouts.  I posted my response here as well as this is something I hear quite a bit.  If you have your own advice on how you handle this, please share with the rest of us as we can all benefit from one another’s experiences.

Hope you take some time for you this weekend and celebrate whatever joy is right in front of you!

Steph

 

 

Cathy:
I can totally relate to how you are feeling both from my experience after having my kids and just from talking with a lot of other women. I bet your physician does wish all of his patients were as fit as you are!!

On the aging thing…. I’m 36 years into this life so I can speak from my personal experience of what it was like to go from a 20-something who had all the time in the world to a mom with a full time job, 2 small children and a body that just wouldn’t seem to want to do what it used to for exercise…

I think if you feel that you need to rest – you mention fatique – that you should listen to your body. NOW the trade off on this as I have learned first hand, is that if you take more rest days, nutrition becomes even more important. I went through a phase when I couldn’t do anything that I used to do hardly. I couldn’t even get through some of the workouts that I wrote and led!!

So, I backed down a little bit on my weight training, incorporated more resistance band work and core training, and made sure my nutrition was extra clean. And you know what? I now weigh less than I did when I shot any of my old workouts and I feel much stronger and not so worn out. I also am crazy about splits and rather than trying to do the whole kitchen sink approach by doing all of my muscle groups every workout, I pick apart my body.

I also make sure that I keep up with my supplements and drink plenty of water. I use protein shakes and try to get in more fresh fruits and vegetables.

Now, this is an ever-evolving journey just as I believe fitness should always be. After all, how boring would it be to do the same thing again and again and again? Some days I feel like I can hit the heavy weights full force and others I feel like my body is asking for some gentle core work and stretching. I respect what my body tells me knowing that I’m doing my part on the nutrition end as well.

Keep a log of what you do and how it makes you feel. Figure out which workouts make you feel strong and powerful and those that make you feel uncomfortable or completely exhausted. Working out shouldn’t wear you out!!

I think if you’ll keep a log and then figure out what does YOUR body need, what does it respond to, and change things up accordingly, you’ll see that you can continue to workout as you’re accustomed to doing but that you’ll feel energized. Listen to your body!!

I hope that helps and this is one of those times I wish we could sit down for coffee (with fat free creamer of course!) and really talk in detail. In the mean time, please keep me posted on how you’re doing.

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by!
Steph