Are You Over Trained or Under Recovered?

I hear it all the time, “I’m so sore, I think I burned out my central nervous system,” or some variation. Your warmups feel like someone turned up the gravity in the gym. Your hips, shoulders, back, or a muscle that you made up is sore or tight. The big question is are you overtraining or under recovering? Spoiler alert; it’s most likely the latter.

One reason I think clients that Body Elite trains are superior to any other gym is the emphasis our trainers put on recovery. How many times have you heard us ask how did you sleep, how did you eat last night or before your session, or what did you do after your session the other day? We aren’t asking these questions for our health. We are trying to get an idea of how recovered you are and trying to educate you about how to recover appropriately. Sleep is number one in my book. The hormones that assist in muscle growth are most active during our sleep cycle. If we don’t sleep enough or are restless through the night it affects you more than you realize sometimes. Our nutrition is also of the utmost importance, especially before and after a workout. Number 1 thing we see is people not eating before a workout and be on the verge of passing out during that session. It is a completely avoidable situation and leads to a bad workout. What about after your session? Are you stopping off at McDonalds because “that’s your reward,” or are you actually eating a protein rich meal that aids in recover. If you aren’t eating to fuel or recover then that could be the reason you aren’t feeling as good as you could.

Finally, what are you doing after your session? Did you go home and sit down to watch TV for a couple hours or did you stay active? When I say stay active, I don’t mean go home and go for a run after an hour of lifting weights but rather not being sedentary. Taking the dog for a walk, doing some gardening, or playing with the grandkids are all simple ways to stay active and boost recovery. Oftentimes, it’s difficult to criticize our own habits but necessary to discover weak points in our fitness journeys.

Those who know me know I hate talking about my success but I will shamelessly self-promote myself a little bit; but only because it’s easier to do so from behind a computer. I think I can outlift other people not because I train harder but because I know how to recover more efficiently. After lifting, I will

immediately get home and eat a protein rich meal to aid in muscle growth and recovery. I will also take a walk with the dogs to get my blood flowing and help to ease any soreness. Finally, I refuse to get less than 7 hours of sleep. I have left parties early not because I want to leave but because I have a heavy training session the next day and need to sleep; although I most likely don’t want to be there regardless.

So in conclusion, if you feel you aren’t living up to your abilities or if you feel like you aren’t recovering enough and feel run down, start to look inward at your own habits and determine what you could be doing better. Doing so might surprise some people.