Written by Blaine McConnell
I have had a number of members who have spoken to me over the past couple of weeks about feeling more sore than usual or feeling burnt out. I am sure other coaches have received these same statements from some of their clients at times. There are a few ways to address this issue so let’s be smart about it.
I know in the middle of a workout, it is easy to just scale a movement for the day or lower some reps, but let’s make sure we look a little further into what’s going on to help you out in the long run.
After many conversations with gym members, it seems that there are a number of you who are just doing too much volume. Some are doubling up on classes and doing multiple training sessions in one day. Although it is great that you want to always be in the gym and train, that may mean you are doubling up on movements and can increase the risk of injury or burn-out.
Have a quick conversation with your coach (or yourself) about what your training goals are and what your schedule looks like so they can recommend some classes that work well together to help you achieve your goals.
Downtown, we have a number of members who do the 5 p.m. Strength Development class and then join the 5:30 p.m. class for their conditioning part which usually works well together. We also have some members who do a full group class in the morning and then come back to do a full Strength class in the evening, which in my opinion, is a lot for the general population to be doing in one day.
I have had a few conversations suggesting to these people that a schedule like that is not the most beneficial and they should think about skipping the AM strength portion if they plan on coming back in the PM for Strength, or stay after Strength to the conditioning after.
Now, in the end, it is your choice to do what you want, but I’m making the suggestion to you so that you can be smart about your training which goes a long way. More isn’t always better. Smarter is better.
