You know that old saying:
“Good, fast, or cheap.  You can only have two out of three.”

I find that, for most people, the same concept applies to work, training, and health.

If you have a busy stressful lifestyle and career, AND you beat yourself up in the gym most days each week, then how long will it be before your health starts suffering?

We get many clients that come to us, baffled at why they can’t lose fat despite eating clean and exercising like crazy.  And often times the answer is the opposite of what they want to hear.

Do less.

If your work, personal life, and training engulfs your day, then by default you have insufficient time to recover.  And this is not only recovery from the training, but also the stresses of that day.  You start compounding these overworked under-recovered days into weeks, and into months, and into years, and you’re digging a hole you might never get out of.

Now, of course I’m not suggesting you quit your job for the sake of more rest time.  It’s probably not going to fly if you tell your boss you’re only working 6 hours today because your health is more important than the company.  Although, if you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, it really is.  But that’s a whole other discussion.

And I’m not even telling you to stop exercising.  But you need the appropriate type and amount of training to reach your goals.  And often times, 4-5 days a week of max effort conditioning is excessive stress on an already-stressed-out body.  This level of training might be in the cards for you down the road when your health and body composition is improved, but until then consider more strength-based work and punctuated bouts of low intesity aerobic work.  You might find that simply going for a brisk walk shoots your heart rate up to 140 beats per minute.

Ultimately, something in your life needs to be THE top priority.  Everything else accomodates that.

What’s yours?

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