Sick and Tired

Three days ago I woke up with a stomachache. By lunchtime it had progressed to a fever, and I left work around 2 p.m. -- the first time I've taken time off because I was sick in seven or eight years.

I'll never know if being overtrained contributed to getting sick but I do know that being overtrained weakens your immune system, which means I set myself up to get sick.

Stubborn and Stupid

Here's a classic case of do as I say, not as I do.

I'm in my final week of what's basically been a year-long workout program (more on that soon) and instead of feeling great, feeling like I've accomplished so much, I'm limping toward the end. Why? I've waited too long since taking a break.

I have several of the signs of overtraining. One example: I'm no longer improving. I'm struggling to maintain, much less improve, my pullup count. The biggest issue is that I just feel tired and not excited about my workouts.

I've known that I needed a break for a while but kept putting it off. I far too often do this because I think, "I need to keep working out." Look where it got me -- frustrated when I can't crank out one more pullup and worn out.

So here's the plan, I'll finish this week and be done with this workout and then I'll take a full week off before jumping on something else.

Put breaks into your workout planning and stick to them.

Sweet Rest

Today is an off day, no workouts, which is good. One area where I could probably do better is rest. Yep, rest is crucial. It gives your body time to adapt to the stress you've put it through during your workouts. And that's when it improves.

So as important as it is to train, it's just as important to makes sure you don't overtrain, something that can take many forms. Jason Ferruggia, one of the nation's top trainers, wrote about this recently.