Find yourself in a plateau or decline in your athletic performance? Feel like you are forcing yourself to go to the gym/court/field/etc. to train? Feel overly tired during the day regardless of how much sleep you have gotten? It is possible you are overtraining.
Most sports have seasons and once the season is finished the athletes get some time off before starting to train hard again. In the CrossFit world, there is really no “off season” which means we are constantly training. Unfortunately, this is not an ideal situation for our bodies. All athletes need some rest time for both physical and mental recovery.
Next time you find yourself in a rut, take 3-5 days off from training. This doesn’t mean sit around and do nothing. Do something active you haven’t done in a long time. Go hiking. Go on a leisurely bike ride. Or do what I did for my recent “active rest” and do a house project that you have been putting off. My guess is you will go back to the gym after your rest and feel more energized and possibly hit a PR or two!
