tremendous MOXIE

Many of you out there reading are fitness people, people who enjoy working out, want to eat healthy and want others to, as well. What often comes with this love of all things fit, is the tendency towards overdoing it. I lean towards the side of wanting to do more, get better and excel. What comes though, very often, is exactly the opposite. You might argue that you have not seen a drop in performance, or you are still getting PR’s regularly. My question is, are you getting ALL you can though?

I know what it feels like to do too much. When you get out of bed and it hurts to walk across the room because you’ve pounded out 2 hours on the treadmill everyday for 3 months, you’re overdoing it. When it hurts to lay on one side because although your shoulder is injured, you keep going with all the same presses you did when you injured it. It’s just not smart. Lately life has forced me to take some extra days off. Kids, work, rain…whatever, I’ve had a few extra days of rest, and even though, often I wouldn’t have planned to take them, later I’ve been glad.

I’ve been stronger not only physically, but mentally. I have a tendency toward mental breakdown during especially taxing workouts which costs me valuable training and time. Taking added breaks have caused me to come into the gym more at ease and looking forward to what was coming and approach each workout smarter, instead of with trepidation and fear of that moment when I want to actually die rather than do one more rep. Don’t get me wrong, there is never a Crossfit workout that makes me think “Oh I’ve got this in the bag”, but lately I’ve felt more excited and ready to go. I know I need to workout and my mind and body are ready to push hard out there. Case in point: Today the WOD was Overhead Squats 3-3-3 and then Tabata KB’s and Double Unders. I got a 15# PR on my OHS and even though the DU’s were Tabata, I got a PR of 30 unbroken DU’s on the first round. I didn’t stress or even think about it very much, I just went for it and got a great result. I truly believe that my mental state was a big part of that. Rested and ready to go. Now, will I take 5 day breaks all the time? No, but occasionally, I may put them in there as a bit of a re-boot.

So, what I’m saying here is, take an extra rest day from time to time. Don’t be a slave to the 3/1 programming. Just like everything else, you have to scale it to what your body and mind can handle. Maybe every other day works better for your body. Maybe you need 2 on 2 off. Play around with a new schedule, stick with it awhile and see what happens. Try something outside the gym. Go play golf or frisbee…chill out! Refresh your body and mind and then get back at it with a vengeance. I bet you’ll be surprised!

Good luck out there. Rest up and go get some PR’s!