Strangely Disoriented

Yep, that about sums up where I am at the present time. August 9th marked my return to work after being off almost 3 months after having girlie surgery. However, work and other responsibilities are particularly irksome to me at this time. I am struggling to find harmony in my humble life now that I am back to work. Oh my, I am so elated to be working again, but am also finding myself quite anxious to balance work time, family time, and gym time and dishes (doesn’t anyone in my household know how to do dishes!?) Guess I am out of shape in more ways than one! My quests for improved health and fitness, as well as financial stability are proving to be a bit stifling to my family and even me to a point. My family now cringes when I walk through the door still in my work uniform and not my gym clothes. And I am torn between taking on another patient for the day and having no time left over to get to the gym.

Enter the “Exercise Nazi” as my daughter now calls me. Truly folks, as I recently said, I have become totally addicted to exercise. That’s all I want to do—exercise! My dear husband asked me the other day if I was going to the gym before I came home and I told him definitely. His response was, “Good! Maybe you won’t be so crabby!” You see, in my first week back to work I only managed to get to the gym three days instead of my normal six. This week I’ve made three days so far and plan both Saturday and Sunday (though really dislike Saturdays as gym is packed.) Now that I am thinking about it, maybe, I will only go one day this weekend if at all. Let me explain.

I have learned a valuable lesson in my quest of finding balance…sort of, as I find my body and perceived lack of progress frustrating. I say perceived, because it is simply just that--this crazy, self fabricated notion that I should be stronger, have better stamina and be thinner---NOW! After all I am working my ba-tootie off! The harder and more often I workout the better the results will be is (was) my mind set. And when I can’t get to the gym, I get cranky and I feel tired. Just like any other addiction I have withdrawals. But, this crankiness and fatigue may also be attributed to something else, which brings us to my most recent epiphany. The lesson learned is that of over training or over exercising. It is NOT pretty! I have learned first hand that over training syndrome is not just for athletes. Over training effects even fluffy women!!! Hard training breaks you down, makes you weaker and leads to excess fatigue and irritability. While our bodies need to work hard to get stronger and fit, they also need adequate rest to allow the physiological adaptations to occur.

Now, you would think that being a physical therapist I would “know” about over exercising and that I would exercise responsibly and correctly. Well, yes and no. I use the appropriate principles everyday in my work. Problem is, I’m me…and things like that don’t apply to me. Yeah right! Just like most of us, there is something out there that makes us believe “it won’t happen to me.” Ummm...yeah, it will eventually if we don’t heed to everyday common sense, safety and precautions it will happen to you—you will get that speeding ticket, you will cut your finger while slicing onions....

This is what happened. Before I started back to work I went to the gym one day and started my routine. I struggled, really struggled during almost all my lifting work. Where the day before I was leg pressing 300 lbs, (my legs are strong, my upper body suck!) this day I could barely press half that. Same with everything, I had to cut back the weights by 30-50% and cut down on reps. Thirty minutes on the tread mill was impossible, after just 10 minutes I thought I was going to keel over. OMG what’s wrong with me! I left the gym that day frustrated and defeated. I took the next day off, but when I returned, I had to cut back on the weights again! I must be getting sick I thought. So I took the next two days off to rest and sleep before I went back to work. Still no clue as to why I had this decline. After my first day of work, I eagerly hit the gym once again (so proud). But that Monday, was different. I could do a little more than the last time I was there. So Thursday came and I pushed harder yet, almost back to where I was before I took that nose dive. And Friday, guess what!? I was back in the same darn boat I found myself in just the week prior. I could hardly lift anything again and the tread mill was like utter torture. I came home exhausted and in tears. WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME!?!?

That night I took a long hot bath to soak away my frustrations when, literally the shampoo bottle fell and hit me in the head and knocked some sense into me. I have been OVER TRAINING! So this week I have adjusted my routine—cut back the weight and the reps, slowed the treadmill down, increased my rest between sets…and have done much better, am feeling good again. Next week I am going to shoot for 5-6 days again, but at a lower intensity.

The old age saying of “use it or lose it” still rings true, but using it too much can result in the same loss. We all need to remember to find the middle ground, to push hard, but not overdo. We need to allow our bodies time to adjust and to heal—indulge in exercise with a healthy balance of push and rest. But above all we need to (OK I need to) remember that the changes I want will not happen over night! So, give it all you got…but do it safely and with proper balance of push and rest!