08/27/2021
Is max effort every day the best way to get results?
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I had a really enlightening conversation today with an athlete at our gym and it hit me that the question above is really the prevailing thought, especially when your fitness program is CrossFit. Seriously, how many pictures have you seen of people laying on their backs, completely exhausted - and really proud - after doing some extremely hard workout at a CrossFit box?
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The reality is, that may actually be doing more for your mental state than it is for your physical. Especially depending on your age. Here’s why.
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The name of the game to see results - whether you’re after losing fat, or weight, or building muscle - is not about beating yourself up in the gym. Sure, you have to put in the work but you actually improve your fitness when you RECOVER from workouts. When you’re a sprite, young, 20 year old in your physical prime, this doesn’t take a ton of effort. Drink some water, eat some carbs, go to bed at a semi-normal hour and P**F you wake up the next day feeling awesome. However, as you age, it gets way harder to recover. Slower recovery = slower adaptation aka results. When you don’t adapt, you don’t see results.
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SO what’s it all mean? It means you need to be aware of how much is TOO MUCH for you and your unique circumstances. Are you in a super high stress period of your life like the period following a new kid being born? Chances are you’re not recovering as well and you should be dialing back the intensity. On the other side of middle age? Be aware of how intensely you’re working out. With this specific person, she’s in her 50’s, beginning a new career, and helping to prepare her family for a wedding overseas. She is BUSY. So, my advice to her is simple: one day a week you can push the intensity, one day you take it very easy and leave the gym feeling better than when you walked in, and one day you go somewhere in the middle. Leave some in the tank, but still get a good workout in.