Out with Overtraining, In with Holiday

While everyone has been wining, dining and enjoying the holidays over the past 4-8 week period, alas I have been working away keeping the site active as I know many of you still visit Go Figure in the holidays. Thanks for visiting and making my efforts worthwhile!

Coupled with writing a back catalogue of articles for while I'm away and training clients who were committed over the holiday period, I'd also been going pretty hard out with my own training. I figured, if I was going to really have a holiday (which I will be starting very shortly) I would deliberately smash myself physically so that I'd be so tired on holiday that the last thing I'd want to do is workout. Therefore forcing myself to really rest and relax.

8 weeks of heavy weight training + Vibratraining + No break = 1 tired body

While I have achieved great results with my Vibratrain and weight training (built mass and decreased fat) and pleased with how I've been consistant with my clean eating over the festive New Year period, right now I feel quite mentally and physically drained.

Lately I've been feeling a little weak, achy, irritable, tired and have even been having naps in the afternoon. But I have been planning for it and have included overtraining as part of my training plan so I knew what I was in for.

However, some of you may not know that you're overtraining so I thought I'd cover overtraining for those prone to overdoing things and maybe you can plan a holiday around it!

Some of the warning signs you need to be aware of when overtraining include:

1.Fatigue or exhaustion. Have you experienced being too tired after an intense workout? I bet you havemaybe once or twice a month. But if you feel tired almost after each workout then youre already overtraining yourself and you need to stop!

left: yep looks like I need a holiday!

Unleash your inner athlete!

By Sarah Parr

Every Olympics season, viewers in their millions tune in to watch the world's finest array of athletes competing at their physical peak. Naturally, the athlete's commitment to training ensures that they are finely-tuned machines of movement and ready to push their physical limits.

Breathlessly, we watch as these dedicated denizens of fitness give their all for country and the glory of being the ultimate in physical supremacy.

Martin Bentley-Smith Photography

Fitness and Beyond

Welcome to our New contributor, Sarah Parr from Napier. Some of you may already know Sarah from many years ago when she competed in the Shape class. Since then she has had 2 children and maintains her interest in health and fitness working at fierce fitness. You can find out more about Sarah at the bottom of the page.

left: Sarah (middle) in Shape class 2005

Here is Sarah's first article for us!! thanks Sarah.

To the wonderful women of NZ I ask-Are you in the habit of comparing yourself, only to feel you come off in second-place?
Perhaps it seems like life is just too demanding to contemplate time for ourselves or feels like your 'mojo' was left in the past along with Austin Powers!

Women are natural givers, which makes us fantastic as we instinctually pour our energies into those around us. Never is this statement truer than in the example of a mother. Unfortunately, our naturally giving nature can also cause many mums to put themselves last on the list of priorities.

Battling the Bulge Action Plan

	For the past month we've indulged ourselves in the spirit of Christmas with lots of rich food, too much drinking and many late nights. This lethal combination can cause havoc not only to our bodies but also our skin and contribute to general decrease in energy levels. You're probably feeling a little sluggish and still bloated from Christmas, and probably not looking or feeling the best.
If you're already writing in a food diary as suggested in our previous article 'why keep a food diary', then you're well on your way to controlling your weight. If not, read on and get inspired to get into action for 2011.

To help you get over the Post Christmas Blues, here is a list of helpful hints to kick start your action plan for next year

Stay off the scales! The clothes are fitting a little tighter, you feel you've put on a couple of centimeters (or two or more) so why do you need the reinforcement from your bathroom scales to tell you you've put on a little weight. To help you overcome this interim 'fat phase', the best thing to do is hide your scales until you've got yourself into some fitness regime before you get back on the scales again. The more you're hung up about how much weight you've put on the worse it'll be for your psyche and the post Christmas blues may linger for longer than intended.

Out with Overtraining, In with Holiday

Unleash your inner athlete!

Fitness and Beyond

Battling the Bulge Action Plan

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