61:: the mental & physical signs of exercise burnout (& how to get out of an exercise funk!)

Speaker: 00:00:00

If you've been exercising for a while

or have exercised consistently for a

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while, you have definitely gotten to

this point at one time or another.

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So today we are going to chat about

how to know when your exercise

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routine is no longer serving you.

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How to know whether or not it just

comes down to discipline or whether

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or not you need to switch it up.

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Welcome back to Wellness Big Sis, the pod.

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I'm your host, Dr.

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Kelsey Vic, a board certified orthopedic

doctor, physical therapy, a pelvic floor

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physical therapist, and the owner and

founder of the LO Wellness Sisterhood.

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And throughout the summer we're doing some

fun sort of girly episodes, next week,

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we have a super exciting episode with Dr.

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Felice Chan, who is a traditional Chinese

medicine doctor, and someone whose

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perspective is just entirely different

than my own and someone who I learned

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so much from during our interview and.

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I know that you guys will be able to

tell as soon as like light bulbs start to

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go off in my head during the interview,

so I'm excited to share that one.

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Next week.

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We did a blog post with her in our June

newsletter, in our magazine, nostalgic

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newsletter that we put out every month.

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So if you are.

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Interested and want to get hyped for

that episode, I will leave the link to

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that magazine style newsletter below.

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That way you can learn about her, learn

about traditional Chinese medicine, some

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of the successes she's seen with her

patients, how it helps her, and then

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also her traditional Chinese medicine

toolkit for things like anxiety, acne, gut

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health, bloating, the menstrual cycle, all

things that we'll also cover next week.

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So if you've listened to the pod for

a while or know me at all in real

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life, you know that I am constantly

switching up my exercise routine.

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The pillars stay the same,

and we've chatted about some

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of those pillars before.

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I'll leave that link below too.

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But the pillars stay the same.

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But as far as the routine goes, I vary it.

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A good amount.

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I've been exercising for a very long

time, consistently, and we cannot possibly

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expect ourselves, our bodies, our brains,

our minds to tolerate the same exercise,

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that repetition over and over again.

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And so I have a few pillars that I

like to think about when it comes

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to, is it time for me to switch up my

exercise routine based on my mental

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state, based on my physical state?

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Is my body actually tolerating the.

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Routine of exercise that I'm doing,

or am I just lacking discipline

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and need a good like slap on

the butt to get back in action?

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So we'll talk through all of that

today, but I am someone who definitely

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abides by the rule of a healthy amount

of consistency, but then also mixed

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with a healthy amount of variety.

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I feel like this concept can get

actually confusing because when we

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say consistency and variety, those

are almost two sides of the spectrum.

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But when I speak about

consistency, I mean.

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In regards to muscle growth

and muscle activation and

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refining neuromuscular pathways.

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So we need that consistency in our

strength training routines with some

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of the patterns that we do, some of the

movement patterns that we do, some of

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the exercises that we do in order to

provide a sufficient amount of stimulus

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over a sufficient amount of time in order

to see the changes that we wanna see.

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Whether that is hypertrophy.

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More of a toned look aesthetic

goals, different things like that.

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We do need consistency for.

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We also need consistency to run

down and drive down those pathways

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that connect to our muscles.

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The more we use it, the less chance

we have to lose it, and so the more

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we're driving down those pathways,

the better we're able to recruit

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some of those fibers, especially

when it comes to muscle activation.

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However, we also need to be able to

vary things up slightly and drive

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down different pathways, different

mind muscle pathways, different

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neuromuscular connections, so that

we're not losing the ability to activate

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when it comes to muscle, like those

motor units or those muscle fibers.

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So we need to have that healthy

amount of consistency to see

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the change that we wanna see.

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But then also that variety to.

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Protect ourself from injury to drive

down more pathways so that we're able

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to keep those pathways for longer as

well, to get more efficient at some

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of the pathways that we might not

drive down . And I look at it as a

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highway, but I use that metaphor to

talk about mind muscle connection.

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And the more that we drive down those

pathways, the more that we utilize them,

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the better we are able to activate those

pathways and then also better speed of

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activation for those pathways as well

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. So let's chat.

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How do you know when your exercise

routine is no longer serving you?

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I know when I get to this point,

I always have to think, okay, is

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it time for me to switch it up?

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Maintaining some of those same pillars?

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'cause we do of course,

need cardiovascular fitness.

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We need strength, we need

endurance, we need power.

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We need all of these things.

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We need speed.

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We need all of these components to be.

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A healthy body, a healthy

human moving through life.

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But the way we reach some of those

pillars can differ and should differ

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throughout our exercise journey.

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So how do we know whether or not it's

time to switch it up or whether or not

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we're just being lazy and need , a good,

healthy like kick in the butt in order to.

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Get ourselves into gear.

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think I said slap in the butt earlier.

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Oh, we'll keep it in there because that's

definitely aism, so in my head I divide

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it into two categories as things to

check in on in order to know whether or

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not it's time to switch up my routine.

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And those two categories are

psychological and then also physical.

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So your mental state, but then also how

your body is tolerating that exercise.

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So when we talk about psychological,

Are you constantly feeling down or

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having trouble staying motivated,

getting over that initial barrier

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to entry with your exercises?

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Are you like, dang, I really

have to exercise today?

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I really don't want to consistently

over time, and this is where knowing

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your menstrual cycle and knowing what

phase you are in your cycle really

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helps because in that luteal phase,

we do often shift towards these more.

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Protective, less motivated

pathways a little bit.

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So if you're noticing it in your luteal

phase, maybe it's due to this hormonal

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shift within your body, but if you're

noticing it consistently over a few

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cycles, that might be indicative that

it is a more psychological barrier

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to entry that you might benefit from

switching up that routine a little bit.

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The other thing to check is if you're

feeling down in your follicular phase.

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When you are about to start exercise

or that hill to overcome in order to

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actually start your exercise session,

that day is like higher and higher

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in your follicular phase, where

we're typically more motivated, we're

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typically more willing to exercise,

and we enjoy that exercise and we

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recover better in that follicular phase.

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So if you're having some of these

down thoughts in the follicular

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phase, that might be another

indication that maybe it is time to

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switch up your routine a little bit.

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When it comes to the physical category,

this is whether or not your body and my

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body feels like it's still benefiting

from the same routine we've been doing.

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So if your body isn't positively

responding anymore, then it

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might be time to switch it up.

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And this is one of those, I feel like

when I get the urge to switch it up.

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It's a combination of both psychological

factors and then also physical factors.

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So for physical factors, I

typically notice a little bit

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more like lethargy or fatigue.

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After my workouts, I notice a little

bit more just puffiness in my body.

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After my strength training sessions, I

notice that it's a lot harder for me to

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recover from some of my cardiovascular

sessions, especially if I've been

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doing a ton of HA sprints over time.

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I just start to plateau a little

bit in those improvements in my

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strength training sessions or my

cardiovascular running sessions.

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And if you're feeling these symptoms

throughout your cycle, again, that

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might be indicative of a needed change.

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But if you notice, hey, I am in my

luteal phase, feeling a little bit

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more bloated, feeling a little bit more

fatigued, my recovery's a little poorer.

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Then that might be more of a hormonally

driven response versus something

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that indicates that you might

actually need to switch your routine.

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So it's nice to have that awareness

of where you are within your menstrual

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cycle so that can help guide your

decision on, am I lacking discipline?

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Is it hormonally driven, or do I

really need to switch up my routine?

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So for me, a lot of the time

this manifests in again,

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feeling puffier, poor recovery.

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I don't feel challenged

as much in my workouts.

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I don't feel like I wanna push

myself as much during my workouts.

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I just feel a general plateau and

a more difficult recovery after.

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Any of my exercise sessions, whether or

not that was when I was more in a Pilates

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phase or when I was in a hill sprint

phase, which again, I sprinkle those

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workouts throughout my routine nowadays.

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But sometimes that balance and that shift

and what I prioritize is how I switch up

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my routine to help my body and my mind.

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Okay, so what should you do about it?

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If you realize, okay, no, this is

something that I need to switch it up.

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I am not enjoying working out anymore.

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I'm not enjoying exercise anymore.

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Whether that's psychological

reasons, physical reasons,

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or a combination of both.

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So my first recommendation

I actually got from Dr.

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Shannon over at F Low Fitness,

and every 12 weeks or so, I

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believe they program a reset week.

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So this is a full week.

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Off of your typical workouts and you

can sprinkle it in with vacation.

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It doesn't have to come at

the end of the 12 weeks.

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You can time it with your schedule, but

it's a nice sort of exhale throughout your

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training and your programming to reset

and just realize I don't have to put the

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pressure on myself to work out in the

way that I had been working out before.

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I can add in some walks, I can add

in pickleball, I can do nothing.

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It's just this week to reset,

and I think that's a really

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healthy way to approach things.

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I don't know if any of

you guys have ever done.

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Any sort of artistic sport.

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Before I was a gymnast, a cheerleader,

and a lot of the times after I was sick,

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so almost a forced reset week throughout

my training, I would immediately

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get a new skill after that break.

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So whether a lot of the times it came

down to a tumbling skill or a skill

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on beam or bars, I would always get

that skill immediately after a week

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of being sick or a forced reset.

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And there's something scientific about

this where it does take your brain time

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to fine tune those pathways a little bit

where we need that little bit of a break.

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We need that variety in some way.

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So if you're feeling this way and

you really do like your routine and

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you feel like it's still really good

for you, maybe it's just time to

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take a week off and then start it

back up after that week of a reset.

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These next ones might seem a

little bit more obvious, but try

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a new style or a new breakdown.

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If you're used to four days of

strength, one day of running, one

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day of Pilates, change up that

balance a little bit, shift it.

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Or if you're like, okay,

I'm sick of Pilates.

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Let me try bar, similar style I

guess, or similar goals sometimes

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with that form of movement, but a

little bit different to where your

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body is challenged in a new way.

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You could also try more group

fitness classes or friend workouts.

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I know a lot of the time when I'm

struggling with motivation or discipline

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really is what it comes down to.

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I'll oftentimes ask my husband

or my sisters or my friends, Hey,

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can you work out with me today?

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I'm struggling getting started, but

I know that it's not because it's

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not right for my body or my mind.

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It's just my discipline and my

motivation is struggling today.

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I mentioned this a little bit before,

but maybe the balance isn't right.

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Maybe we need to add in more cardio

days, more strength days, more

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stabilization days, or smaller muscle

group days like Pilates, like the

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bar classes, like deep core work.

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So switching up the

balance of your workouts

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might be a way to switch it

up enough to help your body

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psychologically and physically.

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And then lastly, I do think knowledge

helps understanding what your body is

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going through, how your body responds

to different forms of exercise.

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Some of the time that helps me

really stick with a certain routine.

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Or helps me problem solve on what to add

into my routine based on things that I

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might not have in my routine currently,

like those smaller muscle groups.

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That's the one I'm really working

on right now is I feel like I have

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a good balance of strength and

cardiovascular fitness work, but I don't

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necessarily have a dedicated day for

some of those smaller muscle groups.

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So that's something in my own mind

where I'm like, maybe I need to add

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that to switch it up just a little bit.

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So understanding what your body

actually requires in order to do that

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exercise and how that exercise actually

benefits your body and helps for life.

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And then lastly, if you think it might

be related to discipline, if you're

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like, Nope, nope, doesn't apply.

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Doesn't apply throughout all of this.

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Maybe it is related to discipline

and motivation, try a workout

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challenge with your friends.

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I just had a lot of my family in

from out of town and my cousin

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and her husband were mentioning

they had a friend challenge where.

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They set up the challenge for you

get a point for each workout and you

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have to get a minimum of five or six

points a week, so five or six workouts.

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They were also tying it to alcohol

consumption, so if you consumed alcohol,

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you had to do another workout, and that

workout negated the alcohol if you drank

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alcohol, you'd have to do a two a day

workout, but not that you get two points.

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It was just that the alcohol was

minus one point and that second

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workout was plus one point.

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So that sort of negated each other, and

I thought that was just a fun challenge.

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They were doing it with her.

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Sister-in-law and brother-in-law, and so

something as simple as that where it's a

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point system and at the end of the six to

eight weeks you get some sort of reward.

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It's okay to have that external or

extrinsic motivation in order to help

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kickstart or get you back on some

of those healthy routines that you

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are struggling with motivation for.

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This one's big for me, but

setting it in my calendar.

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I love a checklist.

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I love checking things off the list.

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I love deleting things off my calendar,

so putting it in my calendar and actually

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doing it and then checking it off is

one of those things that helps me get

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motivated and stay a little bit more

disciplined in my exercise routine.

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Accountability, like that

friend challenge, or even just

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texting your friend like, Hey,

I'm struggling with discipline.

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I'm going to text you every time

I work out and I want you to do

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the same if they're struggling to.

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That way you guys can keep each other both

accountable and have someone to report

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to make sure that you are maintaining

some of those healthy routines.

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And then this last one, I remember

all the time in school, people would

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tell us this when starting homework

or even cleaning the house as kids.

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Set a timer for five minutes,

see what you can get done.

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If you don't feel like

it after, that's okay.

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At least you showed up for yourself.

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So thinking of exercise and movement

like that where, set a timer, five, 10

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minutes, and usually after that amount

of time, you're like I'm already.

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25% of the way there, or

whatever the percentage is,

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might as well finish it out.

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So just setting the timer, committing

to a smaller amount of time, and

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then seeing what your body and

your mind will give you after that.

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I know sometimes it is hard to figure

out what is working and what is not.

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So I am a big signs girl and

symptoms girl when it comes to this.

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So this is the checklist I go through

to know whether or not I need to switch

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up my routine or whether or not it is

related to discipline and motivation.

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And I just need a slap in the butt, kick

in the butt to get myself into gear.

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So I hope you enjoyed this episode.

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Again, keeping it fun,

lighthearted, girly.

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Stay tuned for next week

where we interview Dr.

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Felice Chan, a traditional

Chinese medicine doctor.

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I'm so excited for you to hear her

episode and just get to meet her

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virtually because she is such a.

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Call me a presence and I really feel like

you guys will absolutely love her episode.

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So stay tuned for that next week.

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But I hope you guys enjoyed this episode.

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A comment, subscribe, review

all of that, super duper helps.

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let me know what else you guys want to

Wellness Girl chat about throughout the

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summer and I'll see you guys again on the

next episode of Wellness Exists, the pod.