Adaptation and Progressive Overload

By now, most of you are a week deep into this program, and likely you aren't feeling too hot. I have had several of you mention to me that you feel "sore, tired, lethargic, overwhelmed, ect..." I'm sure you are beginning to wonder if you are cut out for this, or if it is too much for you. Let me assure you that you are, and that this is exactly how you are supposed to be feeling right now!

What you are experiencing is the first stage of the general adaptation syndrome. In this stage, your body is freaking out trying to figure out what this new stress (a good stress, but a stressor nonetheless) is, and it is rapidly trying to keep up. You should feel fatigued, sore, and slow. We are trying to put on muscle mass right now, so the volume is high! I know it is tempting to "take a day off so you can recover" but that is exactly what we do not want! Right now, I don't want you to be recovered when you enter the gym! If you are, you aren't training hard enough to progressively overload your body. We need to get you to the point where your body enters stage 2 of the GAS, where you start to not only survive, but thrive. This is where real gains are made!

I am a believer that there is no such thing as overtraining. "Overtraining" is simply under-recovering. You should be eating a lot- protein and carbs are your two new best friends. Learn to love them. Again, give your body a reason to grow (eat a lot!) and it will! Hydrate! Sleep!

Dig in deep. It will take a few weeks for you body to get used to. Think of it this way- when you first started crossfit, you did 10 air squats, 10 burpees, 10 pull ups, and the next day you thought you were going to die because you were so sore. In time though, your body adjusted to a point where this no longer served as a good workout, but rather a good warmup. So now you can do 10 front squats with 135, 10 burpee box jumps, and 10 bar muscle ups. Adaptation. Give the body a reason to grow, and it will.

"Absent a new stress, the body has no reason to change. You can't do the same cardio routine for 2 years and expect changes. You can't lift the same 10lb dumbbells for 5 years and expect any changes."