Where's the Beach?

Background for Post Today is going to be a super hectic day for us in terms of two events in two cities. My nephew's birthday was Thursday, and his party is today in one city (an hour away). It's supposed to be from 12-2. Then we have a wedding to attend back in our city at 4. So, I'll pretty much be gone all day today. Alison had a post recently ( Just *move* ) that sort of got me thinking about why I (or we) workout the way I (we) do. I have had chats with my friend Jessica talking about concerns about people maybe thinking I'm too over the top with workouts. I get comments about being a machine or hardcore. Sometimes that can sound more like insane and over doing it. She thought maybe I should do a few posts on over-training syndrome, because I mentioned I've been there and never want to hit that spot again. I've posted about it in the past, and maybe I'll revisit that again. But, then Alison replied to my comment on her post and that ...

The Importance of Rest Days Today is an official rest day for me. I'm definitely going to enjoy it as tomorrow will be weights. Oh, but not just any weights, this is the super deluxe, mother of all high rep workouts. Tomorrow starts Week 7 of my 8-week rotation. I must say, that 3 sets of 18 reps really makes me want to make this a 6-week rotation and move along! Yes, you read that right, number of sets goes up. I can do this...already psyching myself up. ;-) Along the lines of rest days, Kalli @ Fit and Forty Something posted a really good comment/question yesterday: heather, great workouts today! would you ever skip the rest day since you feel so good or do you think that is bad in the long run? happy friday! While I did answer the comment, I thought it was a really good question and wanted to talk about it a little more. Especially because I know that I workout a great deal and my workouts are typically fairly intense. There was definitely a time when I would gladly ski...

I will be the first to admit that I have a difficult time allowing myself a rest day from exercise. I have an all or nothing attitude with a propensity to over train. After a workout, I usually have a boost of energy and feel better. So, even on days when I am tired, cranky, or even sore, I push through so I can get that energy boost. The big “theys” of authority keep urging everyone to exercise more. Get off our duffs and be active. But for those of us who are already active (and overachievers at that), there is a potential to over do it. Can you really get too much exercise? Surprisingly, yes. Over exercising can lead to Overtraining Syndrome. Athletes, triathletes, runners, weight lifters are all susceptible to overtraining. Even people new to exercising can get overly enthusiastic and over train, thus burning themselves out entirely. Exercising usually makes us feel good for various reasons, so why not do more and feel even better? Why not add on extra reps, extra miles and boos...