As serious athlete, the reality of having really low periods in your training or life will happen eventually. This sometimes stems from lack of motivation, lack of desire, getting hurt or injured, post competition blues. Currently I'm healing from an injury and working really hard during my rehab sessions and trying to be competitive again.
I’m no expert or have any magical powers to make things better but here is some of my perspectives on “Embracing the Suck”. Before we get on to perspective, lets define what exactly is the suck? The suck for an athlete is of those episodes or period(s) where nothing seems to work, you just feel physically or emotionally drained this usually happens after a competition, you may feel the lack of desire to get back into training or your body is just not responding well to anything you do physically or mentally. As a professional in social services and a strong advocate for mental health there are some points below that you might want to take note of. Your Central Nervous System is Fried
There are plenty of times where I’ve seen lifters training on a daily basis. They call themselves #teamnodaysoff. I’ve seen the gymbros training Squat, Bench and Deadlifts at almost maximum effort on a daily basis. I think this is a fool hardy methodology. This is one of the best ways to burn out your Central Nervous System (CNS).
But lets define what is CNS Burnout.
Burnout of your CNS is the consequence of chronic stress causing severe disturbance (over-training) to our vital physical and mental mechanisms. A simultaneous collapse of our psychological, neural, metabolic and immune systems might be so all-encompassing that a complete recovery is very slow or even impossible. This usually happens to me after a competition where I maxed out on a lift. How do you know the lift is your TRUE 1RM. Sometimes I walk away with burst blood vessels in my eye, or sometimes nosebleeds. Or just collapsing after the lift. Then for a few days I feel broken, not able to walk properly or have no appetite to eat.
This happened to me in 2018 Static Monsters World Championship at Gold Coast, Australia where I finished 3rd on podium.
I suffered from a burst vessel in my eye and a minor nosebleed prior to boarding the plane. The best advice I got from the coaches I worked with was to instill an enforced 2 week "No Training". I am allowed to go for swims or walks but no lifting anything. This worked out well for me and it allows my body to heal slowly and for me to just reframe and be normal again, whatever normal is...
You have a terrible training program.
Have you ever felt like you are at the gym, just grafting and grinding day to day with your trainer or coach but nothing seems to work. Your deadlift, squat or presses have been stagnating and there are no improvement to your body physically. Let revisit #teamnodaysoff.
Myth - Training heavy everyday will make me stronger!
Fact - Training heavy everyday will ensure that your CNS will burnout
Myth - I need to suck it up and go max out all my lifts
Fact - Maxing out all your lifts has a higher chance of injury and CNS burnout
Myth - If the Pros are training everyday. I also can train everyday
Fact - All Pros have rest days... They are also on a lot of "special injectable supplements". They also have a team of nutritionists, bio-chemists, coaches an doctors at their beck and call. You don't!
Myth - You don't need rest days #teamnodaysoff
Fact - Rest Days are part of a well planned training program.
If you have a coach that pushes you #teamnodaysoff. That guy is not a coach, that guy does not have your best interest. Rest days are part of a well-balanced training program. I'll just be upfront and share with you how my training program looks like. You can use it if you choose.
Monday | Legs | Max 80% |
Tuesday | Chest | Volume |
Wednesday | Upper / Lower Back | Accessory Work (Rows) |
Thursday | Active Rest | Mobility / Light Cardio |
Friday | Shoulders | Volume or Technique |
Saturday | Event Training | Technique |
Sunday | Active Rest | Massage / Walks / Swims |
It always functions around Max Effort, Volume, Technique and Active Rest. Is this the best training program? No I'm pretty sure there are better ones. But this program works best for me. If you do need help in your programming do let me know. I'll be more than happy to help but of course it comes with a cost.
Your Personal life is in a MESS or your Professional Life is in the way.
Firstly you have acknowledge that if your job is stressful, demanding and takes a lot of your time. You need to accept that you will never be a professional athlete, world champion or have a podium finish in any international competitions. What will happen, you will a "recreational athlete" and being an athlete will be a hobby, albeit a very expensive hobby.
This is me giving you the truth. To be competitive at the highest of level, you need to sacrifice a lot of personal and at times professional stuff too. I took a 4 month sabbatical from work to train and prepare for Static Monsters World Championships. I finished 3rd on podium. Go figure.
If your personal life is in a mess, having too many relationship issues, having issues with the family, not having a supportive partner, not having a supportive family system or network. All this will eventually escalate to toxicity and negativity. It then eventually lead you to being jaded and question your own intentions.
That is going to weigh you down tremendously. You need to take care of this, meaning giving up your competition or letting go of the negativity and toxicity in your life. This can be a tough one. But if you are going to be competitive you can't afford to have any distractions to derail you from your set goal. People will always come and go, but the good ones will always stay to support and be there for you.
Takeaways...
Your CNS is not an infinite resource. You need to have an enforced rest periods after your competitions.
Ensure that you have rest days for your training program for any competition prep.
Let go of the negativity and toxicity.
In the meantime, stay safe, train hard and train smart.
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