How to Beat Fitness Burnout with Sustainable Solutions
Learn how ‘less can be more’.
This month, Go Long is going to discuss how overdoing it on fitness can lead to burnout. For newer subscribers of this blog, the original idea for Go Long was based on the fact that the fitness industry for women over 40 is dysfunctional. When I was doing the research with people in my target demographic, I had a bunch of questions but here were the key 3 questions:
Have you ever hired a personal trainer, whether 1:1 or 1:few?
If yes, how long did you stick with it?
90% had dropped within 6 months, 75% had dropped within 3 months.
Why did they all drop in a relatively short time frame? Believe it or not, less than 5% of all of the respondents said it was about money. So what was it? Of that remaining 95%, almost all of them said it came down to one, if not all, of the three reasons below:
“I got hurt.”
“I didn’t feel listened to in terms of my goals and how my body worked.”
“No one explained the ‘why’ to me around why we were doing what we were doing during the workout session.”
Hmmmm. It confirmed that women over 40 didn’t feel listened to in the gym. Additional reasons I heard were around the lack of empathy from trainers when life got in the way of “being perfect”. This meant that habits were unsustainable, particularly for women in business who have very unpredictable schedules.
Most of the personal trainers these women had fell into the 25 yo male demographic. They had no interest in talking about menstrual cycles, pre- and post-natal challenges and everything associated with perimenopause/menopause. So it’s no wonder that new training regimens had a hard time sticking because the system was not designed for people like us!
How It Clicked For Me
I finally was able to cross the chasm towards prioritizing fitness in a sustainable way once I had set my sights on running the NYC marathon for my 40th birthday. I still had some nagging injuries along that journey but I was able to stick with my plan because I had:
A coach
Running buddies who were a good mix of pushing me to go a bit faster but that I could also keep up with
A goal that wasn’t just about losing weight - running NYC was my homecoming for doing something I never thought possible when I lived there
One thing about the coaching aspect. It’s a luxury and I could have found a less expensive way to reach my goal. But I was learning a lot about my body at the time in terms of training at different speeds and I definitely would have been more susceptible to injury.
I also did a fair amount of reading and as I amped up my mileage, I made a conscious decision to incorporate strength training into my workouts, more specifically - CrossFit. For good reason, CrossFit is known as a “cult”. People love it or they hate it. You can say that about a lot of things in life, particularly around health and wellness.
When the hubs and I started CrossFit, we were in decent shape. I was running 15 miles one day/week plus my track workouts and tempo runs. He was swimming. But adjusting to CrossFit was “a process.” It took months. The combination of Olympic lifting at high intensity was exhilarating and exhausting at the same time. I loved it!
We’re Living in a Society!
It comes as no shock that we live in a culture that espouses to ‘go hard or go home’. When I was running and posting on social media, I had one friend in particular who always typed that in response to a run I did. CrossFit is representative of that ethos. I’ve also seen yoga classes where people compete on who can contort themselves into the craziest pose. It happens everywhere. But what if you didn’t need to trash your body during every workout in order to get the results you wanted?
When people think of working out, they tend not to think of the impact on their hormones. Because of how society conditions us, the thoughts tend to go to:
More is always better
What are they going to splurge on for their post-workout meal
If they PR’ed the workout or the lift
One of the constant things I hear from people is the need for cardio and HIIT (high intensity interval training) all of the time because they give you the most bang for your buck in terms of burning calories. I get it. You’re busy and you want to look good. Plus cardio and HIIT are great for cardiovascular fitness and aerobic health, which are critical for longevity.
What if I told you more ISN’T ALWAYS better?
If your body is under constant stress, it has no chance to recharge. Everyone needs to recharge through different methods. For some people, it’s going on a walk instead of going on a run. For others, it could be going easy in the gym with lighter weights and incorporating more muscle activation activities with dynamic stretches.
The benefits you get from HIIT via acute stress can enhance health. But chronic stress from excessive high-intensity workouts raises cortisol levels (your stress hormone), which in turn:
Disrupts sleep → you feel more fatigued
Increases fat storage → you gain weight
Reduces insulin sensitivity → you feel more moody and have more cravings
Women only: Accelerates osteoporosis risk due to lower estrogen and progesterone → when you fall, you’re more likely to break bones and rip tendons
Imagine if ‘Less is More’
Sometimes, taking it slow is the way to go, especially when it comes to your health. Throwing in some chill, low-intensity activities like yoga or a leisurely walk in the park can really crank up your recovery game. Think of it as giving your body a little R&R on the regular. These easy-going exercises not only keep you moving at just the right pace but also help clear the mental cobwebs. In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, sometimes less is more, and your body will thank you for bringing things down a few pips.
This is what Go Long is about — making sure you have enough in the tank so you can continue to do the activities you love.
As always, please check with your medical team before starting any fitness program.