It’s really hard to tell isn’t it?
I am sure you’ve all had people say it:
“You need to slow down”
“You’re overdoing it”
“All this exercise cant be good for you”
Etc……
We all read and hear stuff about over training and its such a fine line between getting it right and doing too much.
Very often people who are attracted to triathlon are the sort of people who would always rather do more, than not enough – Type A Personalities.
One of the most interesting things about doing too much is the negative effect on your body composition – meaning its harder to lose fat.
Why?
Well, too much training creates a stress response.
To some extent we need this stress response to create change but too much and your on a slippery slope.
If you combine this stressor with other life issues then you can be in trouble.
Stuff like work, hectic social schedules, managing kids etc.
They can be hard to quantify especially in comparison to training.
Unfortunately the best way of telling is actually going on how you feel – the problem with this is that it is a conversation that only exists in your head and this can lead to confusion.
“Are you really tired or just being soft?”
One way of knowing is monitoring your body composition and weight.
For example if you are struggling to lose weight or feel that you are holding on to a lot of water – this can be a sign.
Assuming of course your nutrition is good and you’re not surviving on pure pasta and chocolate.
The cortisol that we produce when stressed can lead the body to hold on to this water and fat despite being in a calorific deficit and training hard.
If this is you – check your stress.
LINK:
Here are some ideas on how to reduce cortisol levels if you think your struggling:
http://www.prevention.com/mind-body/how-lower-cortisol-manage-stress
RECIPE:
Organ meats are probably the most nutritious food you can eat but people are generally not keen to eat them.
When a lion makes a kill, what do they go for first?
The organs – they save the muscle for the scavengers or just leave it to rot.
This is a decent recipe, just replace the flour with rice flour or another non gluten alternative:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2723/liver-and-bacon-saut-with-potatoes-and-parsley
Jamie “Eats like a Lion” Leighton