I am at the Braintree T stop just outside of Boston waiting for my daughter's train. She just let me know she's going to be late, so I sit here thinking about how much better I feel today after a rough week.
Everyday this week has been hard. Extreme muscle fatigue and mental lethargy plagued me and kept me in a chair most days. I had no impetus to get up and do anything. This happens every January or early February, but never to this extent. I usually attribute it to the flu trying desperately to get me and my flu shot is putting up the defenses.
I was okay with that on Wednesday, but when yesterday was even worse, I began to get a little concerned because these were my exact symptoms when depression confined me to that chair for three solid months. Once you've been there, it's like touching a hot stove – you don't ever want to do that again and the fear sits in the back of your mind. Then I stumbled upon an article in a magazine they gave away at fit club. It was a magazine for runners, but the information could apply to any training or exercise program. The article was entitled "Striking A Balance" – overtraining can bring running performance to a halt, but how do you know when you're doing TOO MUCH?"
The word balance stopped me. I'm a big believer in balance. I try to achieve balance in every area of my life, so I read on. This is what I found:
"Optimal athletic performance is a result of both hard training and adequate recovery. In training, you break your body down again and again. Necessary for both the cardiovascular and muscular systems, periods of rest allow them to regenerate and come back stronger over a period of time. Overtraining becomes an issue when you stress those systems over and over again without allowing for adequate recovery. At some point your body and mind burnout and say enough is enough."
I knew all that, but it was the next part that really got me:
"Fatigue is one of the most common signs you may be overtrained. While it is normal to feel tired after hard workouts you shouldn't be feeling tired for months on end. Mental lethargy can also accompany a burned out body. While we all have our bad days, when a highly motivated athlete begins to show a consistent lack of interest in training, it may mean the brain is trying to tell you to back off."
Now I know I'm not a highly trained athlete, but my desire for yoga has wained a bit. I've been hitting both yoga and fit club hard during the week – sneaking in extra on weekends, and some days doing both. I remember this fatigue feeling showing up on and off since I've been hitting it so hard, and the symptoms describe how I feel. This week it was just a little more extreme than usual.
Maybe I need to cut back? Find my balance? I think maybe I shouldn't do doubles and cut it down to 3 fit club and 2 yoga per week.
And so, as another day goes by, yet again I learn that too much of anything – even a good thing, can quickly turn bad, and ….I have written.
Don’t forget to add to these stresses the new writing class to plan and the book illustration—–something has to give. Ilike your idea of the 3/2 workouts at most.