Avoiding Burnout Hell
Your normal activities are making you exhausted, what usually feels “easy” has your heart rate spiking, your mood is all over the place, and your sleeping and eating patterns are jacked up. Sounds like a massive OOFT.
Also sounds like me during my entire collegiate athletic career (I was a D2 long and triple jumper).
While exercise is crucial for physical and mental well-being, overdoing it can lead to a state of whole body exhaustion. This can leave your hobbies feeling like chores, your hormones in complete chaos, you performance declining, and your drive to do literally anything nonexistent.
Since undergrad, I’ve gained knowledge and experience both by being coached and by coaching. Here are some strategies I implement to reduce exercise burnout:
1. Track Your Recovery Alongside Your Progress: Pay attention to how your body feels during and after certain workouts, seasons, and training. If you're feeling more fatigued than usual or experiencing persistent muscle soreness, it might be a sign that you're doing too much. Working with a coach, verbalizing how you feel, and tracking the time you spend intentionally recovering can hold you accountable.
2. Train Smarter, Not Harder: Not following a periodized plan, no matter the sport, can result in performance disaster and overtraining.
Confession: this used to be me. As a generally “fit” person, I thought that I could get away with having no plan when it came to outdoor adventures and strength training. My silly little brain thought I could just “do whatever”. This then resulted in a.) inconsistent results, b.) weeks of bouncing between excessively high or low volume, b.) increased perceived stress in training and c.) random injuries.
Every individual needs to account for peaks, tapers, and de-load times, no matter the goal or event. Not only does this prevent monotony, but provides time for your body to repair, adapt, and secure those gains in a patterned way.
3. Prioritize Recovery: Recovery is just as important as exercise itself. My newest hack for preventing burnout has been to program in “recovery workouts” - this is great for those of us who don’t like to feel like they’re taking an off day.
Depending on the athlete, this day is typically 60 minutes of yin yoga, stretching and mobility, breathe work/meditation, spinning out the legs, a social climbing session, etc. Sometimes, I even schedule in naps.
4. Be Aware of Your Brain: Exercise burnout isn't just physical; it can also wreak havoc on your mental well-being. In turn, I’ve found that this can also affect your gut health. If you start to experience more inflammatory GI symptoms along with negative thought patterns around exercise or self-esteem, it’s time to re-evaluate your approach. This is typically the first sign that your body is overreaching for too long or that your floating into that “red zone” of over training. Remember that exercise should enhance your life, not add unnecessary stress.
I know exactly what it’s like to experience burnout. You feel not-like-yourself, your mood is everywhere, and suddenly your personality is changing. It’s a mess because it seems like you’re doing all that you should be. But it’s not you - it’s just a lack of tools.
If you are in need of some accountability and/or a structured program, please reach out to me. I don’t wish burnout hell upon anyone - by noticing patterns, adding structure to your routine, prioritizing recovery, and nurturing your mental well-being, you can prevent burnout and continue to do all that you love at the level you want.
