If you enjoy reading articles about health and fitness, you have probably read more than a few articles about overuse injuries. By now, you probably don’t need to be told that you will hurt yourself if you exercise a little too hard.
Today, we will talk about a different kind of burnout. Mental burnout can be just as big of a problem as physical burnout. When you have been sticking to an exercise routine for a few months, it can be very tempting to slack off. It’s easy to sit back and tell yourself that you have already made enough progress lately and that you can afford to take it easy.
Nevertheless, you must persist. If you allow every little dip in the road to stop you in your tracks, you will never achieve your goals. When you feel that you are beginning to lose your motivation, it is important to get ahold of yourself quickly.
Common Signs Of Exercise Burnout
Let’s look at the most common signs of exercise burnout, along with several suggestions on how to deal with them.
1. A Tendency To Stall
Without any conscious effort on our part, the mind tends to do what it wants. As such, you might find yourself finding reasons to delay your daily workout. If you are legitimately busy, you might have a perfectly valid excuse. However, if your mind instantly jumps from the thought of exercising to delay on a regular basis, you might have a problem.
The best way to deal with this problem is through effective techniques of time management. You should try to make sure that you always have a little bit of time in the morning to get your workout done. If that means waking up a little bit earlier, do it. If that means going to bed a little earlier, do it. You and you alone are responsible for the management of your time, so you have no one to blame but yourself if you cannot find the time that you need.
2. Lack Of Pre-Workout Excitement
Everyone likes to get mentally pumped up before a workout. Not only does it make you feel better, but it also gets the adrenaline pumping so that you can resist pain and fatigue to a greater degree. However, there may be some days when you just aren’t feeling excited about the prospect of all.
We’ve all probably had days like this. You put on your favorite song, drink some caffeine, think about the results you want to achieve, and…nothing. There is no rational explanation for it, but there will always be days in which you just don’t feel like working out. On days like this, you need to alter your usual pre-workout routine. A little bit of meditation might also help to reset your mind (if you’re into that sort of thing).
3. Abnormal Levels Of Fatigue
For whatever reason, there will always be certain days on which your energy level just isn’t what it needs to be. Obviously, you can use caffeine to alleviate this problem to a certain extent. However, that strategy can easily come back to bite you from behind. Caffeine doesn’t actually give you energy: It just forces your body to make use of the energy that it has already stored.
The best way to deal with this issue is to power through it with sheer will. If you are able to motivate yourself just enough to get up and get started, you will be fine. Once you begin exerting yourself, your fatigue will become a mere background problem. Of course, it wouldn’t hurt to get a little extra sleep when you’re done.
4.Irritability And Frustration
Any time a person is tired, they are likely to become irritable. This applies both to the need for sleep and the need for “down time.” Whether we admit it or not, we all have a need to relax from time to time and forget our worries. That might entail anything from a video game to a nap. Either way, the best way to deal with your irritability is to do something you enjoy.
If you are suffering from exercise burnout, you probably aren’t enjoying your workouts at this point. They have probably become a little bit tedious, and there have probably been a lot of days in which you are just going through the motions without the sense of achievement that you once felt. We recommend that you train yourself in the same way that you might train a dog: with rewards. Think about what you would most like to do, and resolve to do that thing after your workout is complete. Obviously, you will have to keep your plans consistent with reality, but anything you enjoy can be a reward that you give yourself for a job well done.
5. Abundance Of Mental Excuses
Anyone who has ever attempted to help a self-destructive friend or relative can attest to the fact that people love their excuses. Excuses give people a mental safety net that makes them feel better when things go wrong. However, they also prevent a person from taking responsibility for their problems and thus, from making changes in their life.
When a person doesn’t want to do something, their mind will make up a variety of excuses regardless of reality. This is just the subconscious mind attempting to influence the conscious mind. When your mind begins to make numerous excuses for why you can’t do your workout today, just remember that it is only the weak part of your brain. It cries out for comfort like a baby, but you must whip it into shape!
Conclusion
Our purpose here is simple: We want to encourage you to set aside your irritation, fatigue, and boredom. Only by leaving these things aside can you keep from sinking into despair and losing all that you have gained thus far. We hope that we have given you the motivational talk that you needed, and that you will follow us on Facebook to show your appreciation.
The post What Are Signs Of Exhaustion/Exercise Burnout? appeared first on Gaspari Nutrition.