It might sound obvious to you, but tiredness is one of the first warning signs your body sends out when it needs to stop. Most people complain of being tired after a workout session, but true fatigue can be a little harder to diagnose
As your body is put under more stress it can affect your most precious organ – your brain. Bet you didn’t know that! It’s not uncommon for people who are enthusiastic about their training to feel really depressed. This is because over-training depletes your glycogen stores, which are needed to keep your brain functioning. Once the stores are used up, it becomes increasingly difficult for the brain to accommodate demands, leaving you feeling anxious and sometimes depressed.
Faithfully keeping your CrossFit training diary and recording each WOD lets you see your progression. If you are noticing a lack of progression, that could signal that you may be over-training. It would be easy to think that the solution to not seeing results would be to increase your exercise routine. But the fact is you need to do less! This is because in order for a muscle to grow, it first has to recover. If you over-train your body, it simply can’t return to the level it was at before exercising.
Do you feel as if you’re constantly fighting off some sort of bug? Persistent colds or the flu are often an alarm bell to over-training. When you over-exercise, the demands you’re putting on your body outweigh your body’s resources. This can take a toll on your immune system, and in turn your capacity to respond will decrease.
Prevention is better than a cure! An elite athlete should always consider quality over quantity when it comes to their training. If you are over-exercising, the only cure is to rest or reduce. You might think it’s mad to reduce your fitness regime, but this is one time when a little madness could do you a whole world of good!
Today’s Workout:
Buy-In – hang power snatch technique practice – 4 sets of 3 reps, working up to WOD weight.
WOD – “Snatch up your Elbows”
Elite: 21-15-9 reps of hang power snatch (65/95), ring pushups (feet at same height as hands), knees to elbows
Zone 3: snatches scale to 55/75
Zone 2: snatches scale to 45/65, incline ring pushups
Zone 1: snatches scale to 30/45, incline pushups
Cash-Out– Deadlifts 5×5 work up in weight each set