should i stay or should i go? a question originally asked by the clash in 1982, probably in a different context, but one athletes need ask themselves almost daily- should i train or should i rest? grip test? resting heart rate? how many times you can hit the space bar on your laptop in 15 seconds, are all good indicators of our body’s state of readiness when administered correctly and consistently, plus they are easy to use and they are quantifiable so that makes it easy to compare to previous days’ or month’s readings. data is super handy, but its very easy to lose touch with your body when you are constantly externally trying to figure out what’s going on inside of it. i was super guilty of this myself as i practically did everything with my first downloadable polar heart rate monitor when all you need to do is ask 3 simple questions: 1 am i happy? 2 am i horny? 3 am i hungry? if you say yes to all three then get your ass to the gym and unleash hell on all that comes before you!!! blog done. if you are still reading then lets expand on this concept…
am i happy? on average how happy are you? are you tigger from winnie the pooh? or are you eeyore? it doesnt really matter how happy you appear to the outside world (yet, it can if things get worse), what matters to this exercise is where you naturally find your headspace day to day. i think if you gave the people who see me the most day to day, they would classify me as a pretty happy dude, but long before people around me notice me getting a touch ornery, there are indicators emerging under the surface that ive learned to pay attention to. what does my self talk sound like? am i excited about my day? how is my enthusiasm regarding training (usually always very high) and how tolerant am i of the other things in my day? work, groceries, family commitments etc
bad news is even cowgirls get the blues kids, even funbobby has his days when not every single thing in the world is awesome. so over time i started noticing that the days and sometimes weeks when i wasnt as effervescent as usual, were coinciding with elevated training or life stresses (or both). if you are “over trained”, “over reaching” or “under recovered” its easy to start to getting crabby. too much stress (yes training is a stress) without enough recovery you can say goodbye to mr happy. sometimes its subtle, if you get in tune with yourself, you can pick up on it long before it becomes a problem. if you havent had enough time to process stresses correctly, the work can get back logged and add up without you even knowing it. giving yourself a rest day (or active recovery) before you need it can be a game changer when it comes to reaching your long term goals and with your mental state. trust me guys, your wife will thank you.
am i horny? right now, not really as im blogging, but in my normal everyday life i have an expectation (a baseline if you will) of what my libido should be. think about what happens when you and the spouse take off south for a week with no kids and no work? maybe you are at an all inclusive resort someone cooks and cleans, and you arent driving anywhere and Good Lord you might get a full 8 hours of sleep! your body gets a chance to catch up on “back logged” stress and then once you get caught up, what happens to your sex drive? im guessing it goes up. manageable amounts of stress means a normal libido. now i dont expect everyone to feel like that all the time but if you are managing your body and life well enough you should be close. so how does that apply to the athlete? again get a feel for your body, when training is going as expected, my hormones feel balanced or even a little on the high side then train away, things are good with me. but if im a little off my game and not pawing at coach Andrea as much as i normally do, then its time to back off till i get things back in their groove.
am i hungry? this one probably needs the least explanation, anyone who trains hard and loves hard workouts knows that when things are smoking along in the gym its hard to get in enough food. when your body is clicking along, your metabolism is charged up and working like a swiss watch (do people still say that?) and your appetite has no problem keeping pace. faster it gets in the faster its burned. now im not a huge eater any more, ive evolved to a 5-6 meal a day guy so while my date night visits to the all you can eat sushi restaurant arent as gluttonous as some of my fellow athletes, but when things are good with me, i can eat a full meal and a hour later im asking coach andrea if she wants to go to wendys. now on the other side of the coin, when im not at my best, my appetite just isnt the same. there are different levels of good and bad of course and they are going to feel and look different to everyone, but for me, if im missing meals or even forcing myself to eat my regular ones then i reevaluate my state of recovery.
so, if im a little grumpy i should go home and sleep rather than train? heck no, i mean what turns a crap day around better than training? nothing that i know. if im down to 2 Hs i train, if im down to 1 then yeah im taking a step back and rest up or take it easier in the gym until im feeling myself again. the tests i mentioned above do exactly what they are supposedto do, they give you quantitative results that you or your coach can interpret and integrate. the 3 Hs can give athletes and coaches a stream of qualitative data but it takes time to learn how they apply to you or your athletes.