Three Years ago I was the leanest I had ever been in my adult life.  I was working out 6-7 days a week with intense workouts and on a restricted meal plan.

Of course it wasn’t sustainable and it affected my metabolism and psyche, but one of the biggest lessons learned during that ordeal was the very real problem of overtraining.

As a consequence of that training regime, I ended up with a strained back extensor and wasn’t able to exercise as much for about 3-4 months.  My story is not unique.

Signs of Overtraining

  • Persistent muscle soreness.
  • Elevated resting heart rate.
  • Increased susceptibility to infections.
  • Increased incidence of injuries.
  • Irritability.
  • Depression.
  • Loss of motivation.
  • Insomnia.

I had every single one of these symptoms but I didn’t want to stop training because I was afraid I would gain weight.  That happened anyway when I got injured and my body told me enough was enough.

At this point I exercise far less than I used to because my goal is to stimulate my muscle tissue and optimize my metabolism.

I work out a lot less these days.  Sometimes only 3 days per week and never for more than an hour.  I feel better, no injuries, and I am making significant progress (back in many of my pants)

People think that more exercise is better but it isn’t.  Better exercise is better.

I bet if we could get this message out to more people, then they wouldn’t dread exercise as much as they do.

Don’t Exercise to burn calories

Last year I wrote an article about why you shouldn’t exercise to burn calories  You can read that here.

The main gist of that article is that we should be exercising to enhance our metabolisms.  That doesn’t happen when you run your body ragged with too much exercise.

I love this quote from Scott Abel:

The fact is that too many people get mistakenly caught-up in the calories-burning quantification of exercise. But this is a mistake and it’s misleading. The calorie-burning nature of a workout should take a DISTANT second place to the metabolic optimization effects of a given workout. And those metabolic effects will play out over a long-term; and not just within the workout itself.

I used to be so afraid to miss a day of workouts because I just knew that I would gain weight if I didn’t burn those calories.  Now I realize that is not the way to do things.  I tailor my workouts to optimize my metabolism (STRENGTH TRAINING and INTERVAL WORKOUTS WITH WEIGHTS OR CARDIO MACHINES) and I make sure my days contain plenty of movement.  Exercise is about feeling good and strengthening my body (internally and externally)

It’s made a world of difference.

Get Lean Quick programs

You may be asking why is she talking about this when it’s hard enough to get people to exercise!

I’m talking about this now because it’s that time of year when the Get Lean Quick programs are making a comeback.  They are right on time for New Years and the Warmer Weather months.

They will be marketing their 30,60,90 day programs that promise you a tight and lean body that is ready for the beach.

A cornerstone of these programs is always lots of exercise whether it is punishing plyometrics, hours of cardio (if the coach really doesn’t know what they are doing), or workouts that break the body down without any proper rest.

I want to caution you against these types of programs because while you may see results short-term, the long term wear on your body is just not worth it.

Train Smarter not Harder

I follow some fitness professional colleagues and there was one instance where I just could not keep my mouth shut.  This woman was breaking her body down into oblivion with all of this training and she just didn’t understand why she wasn’t seeing results.

I suggested that she incorporate a recovery day in rather than exercising for hours a day.

I knew it wouldn’t be long before she ended up injured, burned out, or a combination of results.

This is generally the only Beastmode I acknowledge: Marshawn Lynch!

My voice was drowned out by the BEASTMODE crowd but I hope she will listen to her body.  Even professional athletes have a smart approach to their training regimes.  Breaking your body down into oblivion will not create optimal function and results.

As Fitness Professionals we have an obligation to teach our clients to train smarter and not harder!