overtraining ?- part 2

G

getnfit@39

Cathlete
Hi guys,

I pretty much figured you were going to tell me what you did, so I wasn't surprised by the responses. BUT.....

Okay, "DON'T STONE ME FOR THIS" but.....

I'm scared to stop working out for more than 1 day! Okay I said it!

I know logically that it takes the addition of 3500 unburned calories to = 1 lb of fat, HOWEVER, in another part of my mind lives the "little fat girl" who says to me, "ya know, you're not out of the woods yet! you need to sweat off every pound you can! not like you walk past every piece of chocolate you see!" And knowing that everything she's saying is true, I feel compelled to workout!
*(saying a silent prayer right now that I cannot be cyber-committed to a mental institute!)

I know it's crazy, illogical and physically impossible to wake up back at 375lbs, but my real fear is that skipping more than 1 day might lead to skipping more and more days, which eventually will lead to weight gain. It's a vicious cycle that goes on in my head and I try to fight it, but I get afraid of becoming one of those statistics where someone has lost a large amount of weight only to regain it all plus some. Every time I read something like that I go, "how the he**?" "How can you put so much time and effort in to losing only to regain it?" And I always make a promise to myself that this will not be me! I will not throw away all my hard work for the love of food!
Then I've talked myself into why I should exercise and rest later!

I think I could handle the 3 days on/1 day off type of schedule because it wouldn't be an actual 2 days in a row off. But mentally I think it might push me over the edge to try and take a week off!

Okay, throw your stones, I know they're coming!

Donna

Fitness~It's a journey, not a race!
 
Donna -- no stones from me; I know exactly how you feel. I can't totally skip more than one day in a row either (I feel sluggish and lazy and I end up eating all the wrong things). What about doing one week of 3 days on/1 day off, but for your 3 days on, you just do yoga or walking or some other gentle form of exercise for one hour? After the one week, go back to your regular workouts on the 3 days/1 day schedule. I know it's psychologically tough to take time off, but you don't want to end up with an overuse injury where you are forced to!
 
Donna,
No stones from me either. I have the same fear of waking up overweight again if I skip a couple days working out.
In all of Joyce Vedral's books she advocates taking at least a week off every year, or even a week every 6 months if you want.
Not by plan, but I did take a week off in April & another one just a couple weeks ago. I did take just a couple walks those weeks. Amazingly to me, I did not gain and even lost a couple pounds the first time.
Sounds like your body needs a well deserved rest.
Take care, Lauren
 
No stones from the A-jock either. I still remember the days when I would skip one workout and the next one would be 3 years later. Even now I feel a twinge of anxiety (witness my thread last week "I'm such a load") when I skip a planned workout.

Although yours is quite a common fear, it can lead to the very overtraining we're discussing now, and that overtraining can lead to overuse injuries. Which you already know. As I said, no stones here, but you must let your body rest consistently, as much as you need to exercise it. I only work out 5 sessions per week max, and that works quite well for me.

As you continue on your journey, you'll continually need to refine things; what worked at Month #2 might not work at Month #14 precisely because of all of your wonderful progress.

As much as the prospect makes you nervous, you need to do it. And you will benefit from it, I promise you.

Annette Q. Aquajock
Your #1 Fan
 
Donna C: here is my ? for you. How many days in a row of your cardio is step? How many times a week do you do step period.


Edith
 
Edith................

Hi Edith,

I usually rotate my cardio in a step/hi-lo/kickbox rotation to make sure I don't do any 1 more than the other. The only time that doesn't quite fit is when I'm using the CTX cardios because all but 1 of them have step on it.
So in a 6 day workout, I'll get in 2 step, 2 hi-lo and 2 kickboxing workouts.

Donna



Fitness~It's a journey, not a race!
 
I know you all are right, so I'll modify the rest of this week with maybe a walk tomorrow, "off" Wednesday, and Thu-Sun., either a walk + stretching, or just "off" if I'm still feeling tired. Then next Monday morning I'll try a 3 days on/1 day off rotation and see how it fits. I think I can deal with that much better than 2 consecutive days at this point.

Donna

Fitness~It's a journey, not a race!
 
RE: Edith................

Ok, I don't really have any stones, but I do want to comment here.

In another post happening right now, Andrea talks about how she is "quitting" her running program because she has been in constant pain after her runs. While I do not think she needs to quit entirely, I was VERY impressed with her in that she recognized her body was not responding in a positive fashion and is heeding the warning signals and backing down. Do you know how rare that really is??

Donna..you have come a long way and I certainly can understand your concern with not wanting to "get out of the groove". But I do get sad when I read posts like this because it is so easy to start getting in this mindset where you can never get enough exercise. I may be making a big deal out of nothing, but it may not be a real problem for you now, physically, since you still have weight to lose. But imagine if you keep on losing. If you have this same mindset at 120 pounds, it could be very detremental.

I don't want to lecture, but I went through this and dropped to a weight that was very unhealthy for me. My sister is going through this right now and I am TRYING to get her to view exercise as a means to a healthier, fitter, higher performance body. But she still sees it as calories in/calories out....and she has NO weight to lose.

The concentration I think has to be on fitness and overall optimum health instead of on pounds lost for you to really pay attention to your body and its signals. When you workout to perform your best, you pay attention and rest days do not bother you if you know you will come back stronger...

Just food for thought, sorry if it seemed like a lecture but I seem to get that way sometimes....

Janice
 
RE: Edith................

Plus, Donna, you have been exercising intensly for a while. Is it possible that you have developed a life-long healthy addiction that maybe is not going to go away?? Like me for instance, I never have that worry that I "just won't get back into it" because it is like breathing for me. I might take a mini-break of a week or so, but working out is part of my soul. I could never shake it.

I think you might already be at that point, so maybe you have no reason to worry....
 
RE: Edith................

Janice that was beautifully said! It hit home w/me a bit too...thanks for the post.
 
RE: Edith................

Yeah, hit home with me too! :) I just finished reading Andrea's post not too long ago and amazingly I could tell her "good for you" for listening to your body and it hits me, "doh! can you take your own advice idiot!?"

So I know I'll be okay with a less "intense" routine, and maybe it's time to really train smarter and not harder! :)

Donna
Fitness~It's a journey, not a race!
 
RE: Edith................

I too have to force the day off once a week, simply because I enjoy working out. My body really does need it, though as the work-out the day after I rest is always so awesome. If I swim, it seems like I am 10 times faster, and if it is weights, I feel so much stronger. It shows how tired I am if I don't take a break. Also, as we age, more little things start to go wrong. I pulled a muscle in my back last June, and if I forget to take a rest day, that darn thing starts telling me.

I know how you feel though, I am currently doing weight watchers, and have lost 15 so far. The week I layed back and took it easy, I only lost 1.5 pounds, and that does do something to you. However, I am in this for the long haul.

Dorothy
 
Donna -

At the risk of trumpeting the only mode I know how to instruct, perhaps it's time for you to contemplate bringing in water training to your overall program.

I stand by what I and everyone else has talked about in terms of the need for rest on a consistent basis (and, BTW, I think that Videofitness Challenge of 300 workouts in a year is sheer folly from a health standpoint), but overtraining can also consist of having less variety in one's program than one needs, and overstress on the working joints especially the weight-bearing joints.

Aqua, contrary to what many believe and have seen, is not just for the elderly, pregnant, deconditioned and orthopedically challenged. You CAN get an awesome cardio and muscle endurance workout with about an 80% reduction of impact forces on the weight-bearing joints - when it's done right.

Just a thought -

a-jock
 
A-jock.......

I never thought about needing more variety? I'd love to do water workouts HOWEVER, I cannot swim!
I was ashamed of my weight by 7 years old, I was almost 100lbs then and refused to put on a swimsuit and learn to swim, and by 9 years old I was already 109lbs so I was afraid of kids yelling remarks like "whale in the water," or "Orca!" so I never learned to swim.

And I am not EVER going to commit to a challenge like that again! It was too much mental stress, I have this thing about HAVING to do something if I say I will, so I won't be committing to anything like that again. :)

I am LOADED with nervous energy this morning, my body KNOWS it should have worked out by now and is racing! :)

Donna
Fitness~It's a journey, not a race!
 
RE: A-jock.......

Donna and all, We share a similar committment to ourselves. Sometimes we cut our noses to spite our face---not having a needed rest day or... *eeks* two per week. But as stated by other wise friends here, We must listen to our bodies to make progress. I only repeat this because we (me too!) all need to hear this over and over again to get it right!
WE NEED TO REST PERIODICALLY TO MAKE GAINS
We can't be afraid of this, we are committed. We will go back to our great work out rotations when we are over worked and under rested!
Bless you all fitness friends!

Judy
Live by the golden rule: treat others as yourself :)
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Dec-24-02 AT 12:47PM (Est)[/font][p]I will throw no stones! I totally understand.
In the past almost three years since I've shaped up and gotten healthy, the longest I have gone without a workout is 2 1/2 days. A few weeks ago, suffering from burnout and a very stressful personal situation which takes up a lot of my time, I thought about just 'taking a week off' completely. HA! No waaaay. Instead, I took an 'easier' week - which turned into two easier weeks. But NO stopping my workouts. I need them as much for my mind as I do for my body...
I think for me it would not be a healthy thing to stop them altogether, even for just a week.
I have to say, though, I've definitely loosened up on myself, in terms of days working out. I used to do no less than five cardio workouts a week, and six workout days a week (one day off). Now, I average 4 cardios (sometimes even only three - horrors), and five workout days a week. It's good I loosened up, because I think you can find yourself in a permanently overtrained state if you keep up like that for a long time. Less is more sometimes.
Kathy

ps. oh, and donna, can totally relate to your childhood weight horrors...I was 100 lbs at age 9, so I was right behind ya, kid.
 
Donna - I'm really glad you posted this. I have been putting more and more pressure on myself to increase my workout time.

I also have that fear that if I don't work out, I will wake up 5 years from now at 300 pounds (surpassing my previous high of 267 - ugh!).

Here's why I DON'T think that will happen to you. Don't know if it will help. One major thing that I've noticed about you is your diligence in monitoring your diet and exercise. I think you are very good at recognizing when you're doing something wrong. For instance, if you went a week without exercising and were supposed to, I think alarm bells would be going off in your head and you would know you have to do something different. Similarly, if you ate 3,000 cals per day for a month and started steadily gaining weight, I think you have the presence of mind to recognize that something is wrong and to do something about that.

That is why I don't believe you will go back to who you were. I think part of the reason that happens is that people fall into sort of a coma - they are in denial about old habits they've fallen back into (looking guiltily at myself right now). I truly believe you are self-aware enough to recognize if that is happening with you.

And if not, if you post 4 weeks in a row on this board that you gain weight, well we would be kind enough to point it out to you! :)

Don't know if this helps or not. I know one problem I have had is trying to understand what I can do differently so that this time really is different, I will NOT go back to who I was, and I will reach my goal weight and keep it. I think being self-aware is a big key there.

-Kay
 
Donna, you do not need to know how to swim to do Aqua-aerobics. You stand on the bottom and the water comes up to around chest level. You kick and jump and lots more, march around the pool, your head never needs to get wet. So...try it. I did and it was quite a workout, not as intense as Aquajock's class is, but it was a good medium cardio which gave my knees total no-impact, while working lots of muscles from lots of interesting angles since you are not confined to the upright movements we usually do.
 
Oh wow, thanks mogambo! I just assumed I would have to swim? I'll check into this and maybe I can even get my daughter interested in this? If she doesn't have to sweat it might be of interest to her! :)

Moment of reality: I have NEVER worn a swim suit! Am I really prepared for this? Somehow underwear is one thing, wearing a swim suit IN PUBLIC is going to be a whole new "shock" for me! :)
We will have to consider this with caution!

Donna

Fitness~It's a journey, not a race!
 
Donna - you will be delightfully sore the day after your aqua class! :) Not intensely sore but enough so that you'll realize that aqua aerobics is tougher than it appears! And it's fun too!:) If you have any fears whatsoever in the water, you can always hang out near the sides of the pool so that as often as you can you could keep one hand touching the pool wall.

Go for it - I think you'll enjoy it. I hope you can get your daughter to go with you. I see you have one of those too who doesn't like to sweat. I thought I was the only parent with a daughter like that! :)

Angie
 
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