My training is going down the ****ter

[benben2356]

I'm 31 years old and have been bodybuilding / strength training for 12 years consistently.

I'm a natural lifter ... And my lifts are not impressive by any means - Infact everything is pretty pathetic apart from my deadlift.

I've never taken more than a week off and even that is only about twice a year for holidays.

I've always trained For progressive overload on the big compounds and rarely do much isolation stuff ..

my staples are
Squat
Deadlift
Bench
Chin ups
Military press
Inc db press
Dips
Lat pulldowns

Usually whatever programme I'm following will revolve around these excercises whether it's an upper lower split , ppl , full body , 531 ... etc etc


But over the last few months my strength and overall fitness seems to be going down the crapper real fast and I'm struggling to even finish my workouts.

I feel exhausted and depressed all the time and just don't seem to be able to push myself as hard in the gym.

Every week I seem to be losing reps and reducing the weight and it still seems hard to get through the workout.

And as a result I really just feel like I want to give up right now.

Im 6,2 and currently weigh 186 pounds at 15 percent body fat - probably less than that as I have very deep cuts and full abs intercostal etc when I flex ...

Deadlift - 220 kg 1rm
Bench - 115 kg 1rm
Military press - 72kg 1rm
Squat - 120kg 1rm

These are my current stats and my 1 rep maxes haven't changed as I'm still capable of getting a good single on them ...
It just seems to be my endurance and reps and overall work capacity that has taken a nosedive as of late.

For instance - a few months ago I could do 10 good chest to bar chin ups with 15 kg hanging off my belt.

And now I struggle to do 10 at just body weight and I'm fried after one set.

It could be a cardio issue - I only do cardio one day a week which possibly isn't enough and maybe that's why I'm feeling like crap and running out of energy - maybe I'm just unfit.

Or maybe my body is just finally shutting down and telling me I need time off after all these years...

I've read up on overtraining and for the most part I've always shrugged it off as an excuse for people who don't want to lift hard on a consistent basis..

But i am experiencing all of these symptoms on a daily basis and have been for quite some time ...

Lethargy
High resting heart rate
Anxiety
Depression
Zero libido
Can't sleep for ****
Irritable
Can't enjoy anything in life
Performance regression
no motivation for anything

I've also just recently started getting pain in my wrist which is interfering with my pressing

So maybe there is some truth to it ..... Or maybe I'm just looking for an excuse to quit

I don't know my heads a mess to be honest ...

Strange thing is that despite all this I will still be back again tomorrow Regardless lol

Einsteins definition of insanity right .... Keep doin the same **** and expecting a different result

Sorry for the long depressing rant ... But I'm just feeling lost in my training right now and can't seem to pull myself out of it ...

After 12 years I should be an absolute beast by now .... But sadly Im thinking it's either time to jump on the gear or Persue something healthier like running.

Has anyone ever found themselves in this situation ? What's the best course of action to take ?

I really don't want to give up and I've overcome lots of plateaues in the past ... But never anything like this

I'm getting 3000 - 3500 cals per day with lots of eggs , oats , brown rice , chicken , peanut butter , chicken , coconut oil , fish , vegetables and cottage cheese , wholemeal bread etc

And I'm currently on a 4 day per week upper lower split (something I've always thrived on in the past)

Previously I was on wendler 531 for nearly a year but screwed it up by adding too many extra AMRAP sets and first set lasts and I never used the deload ..... But I did still make good strength gains despite a few resets.

[Plateauplower]

I'm 31 years old and have been bodybuilding / strength training for 12 years consistently.

I'm a natural lifter ... And my lifts are not impressive by any means - Infact everything is pretty pathetic apart from my deadlift.

I've never taken more than a week off and even that is only about twice a year for holidays.

I've always trained For progressive overload on the big compounds and rarely do much isolation stuff ..

my staples are
Squat
Deadlift
Bench
Chin ups
Military press
Inc db press
Dips
Lat pulldowns

Usually whatever programme I'm following will revolve around these excercises whether it's an upper lower split , ppl , full body , 531 ... etc etc


But over the last few months my strength and overall fitness seems to be going down the crapper real fast and I'm struggling to even finish my workouts.

I feel exhausted and depressed all the time and just don't seem to be able to push myself as hard in the gym.

Every week I seem to be losing reps and reducing the weight and it still seems hard to get through the workout.

And as a result I really just feel like I want to give up right now.

Im 6,2 and currently weigh 186 pounds at 15 percent body fat - probably less than that as I have very deep cuts and full abs intercostal etc when I flex ...

Deadlift - 220 kg 1rm
Bench - 115 kg 1rm
Military press - 72kg 1rm
Squat - 120kg 1rm

These are my current stats and my 1 rep maxes haven't changed as I'm still capable of getting a good single on them ...
It just seems to be my endurance and reps and overall work capacity that has taken a nosedive as of late.

For instance - a few months ago I could do 10 good chest to bar chin ups with 15 kg hanging off my belt.

And now I struggle to do 10 at just body weight and I'm fried after one set.

It could be a cardio issue - I only do cardio one day a week which possibly isn't enough and maybe that's why I'm feeling like crap and running out of energy - maybe I'm just unfit.

Or maybe my body is just finally shutting down and telling me I need time off after all these years...

I've read up on overtraining and for the most part I've always shrugged it off as an excuse for people who don't want to lift hard on a consistent basis..

But i am experiencing all of these symptoms on a daily basis and have been for quite some time ...

Lethargy
High resting heart rate
Anxiety
Depression
Zero libido
Can't sleep for ****
Irritable
Can't enjoy anything in life
Performance regression
no motivation for anything

I've also just recently started getting pain in my wrist which is interfering with my pressing

So maybe there is some truth to it ..... Or maybe I'm just looking for an excuse to quit

I don't know my heads a mess to be honest ...

Strange thing is that despite all this I will still be back again tomorrow Regardless lol

Einsteins definition of insanity right .... Keep doin the same **** and expecting a different result

Sorry for the long depressing rant ... But I'm just feeling lost in my training right now and can't seem to pull myself out of it ...

After 12 years I should be an absolute beast by now .... But sadly Im thinking it's either time to jump on the gear or Persue something healthier like running.

Has anyone ever found themselves in this situation ? What's the best course of action to take ?

I really don't want to give up and I've overcome lots of plateaues in the past ... But never anything like this

I'm getting 3000 - 3500 cals per day with lots of eggs , oats , brown rice , chicken , peanut butter , chicken , coconut oil , fish , vegetables and cottage cheese , wholemeal bread etc

And I'm currently on a 4 day per week upper lower split (something I've always thrived on in the past)

Previously I was on wendler 531 for nearly a year but screwed it up by adding too many extra AMRAP sets and first set lasts and I never used the deload ..... But I did still make good strength gains despite a few resets.

It sounds like you need to take a break and re-evaluate your training. If you have been reading up on "overtraining" perhaps you should try to follow some that advice to get back to a fully recuperated state. Whether that is taking a week or two off completely or just throttling way back and just doing a few light (light as in non fatiguing) sets if you can't keep yourself out of the gym. You didn't mention your macro breakdown but that's something else to take a look at. If your fat levels are too low it can cause hormonal issues. Might want to see a doctor and get some blood work too. It could be anything from anemia to even a deficiency of some type. I remember reading a journal that a person had lethargy etc and it turned out to be diagnosed as a significant vitamin D deficiency which after being successfully diagnosed through blood work was easily corrected with supplementation.

[DuracellBunny]

What has changed recently, in either your training, your diet or your life (sleep patterns, stress etc)? If the results have changed suddenly (as opposed tp gradually) then something else has changed and is causing it.

[benben2356]

Thanks guys... I'll definitely get my dr to take some blood tests and I'll look into vitamin d deficiency.

I'm outside a lot so get plenty of sunlight ... But from what I understand those with a deficiency need supps because they can't absorb it from sunlight.

As for my life changes ... I have been stressed because I have a new job starting later this year and I'm very nervous about it as its a big change from my current dead end job.

Also I guess I've just been a lot more wrapped up in my training than ever before .... I've always taken it very seriously but recently I've been obsessing much more about it and always adding extra sets as I never feel like I've done enough.

I'll try and post up a list of my exact average diet later and break down the macros ....

My fat intake is actually pretty good as I eat whole eggs (6 per day) and I have peanut butter and coconut oil with my other meals ...

The low libido thing is very new to me and only started occurring a couple weeks ago.

[DuracellBunny]

Thanks guys... I'll definitely get my dr to take some blood tests and I'll look into vitamin d deficiency.

I'm outside a lot so get plenty of sunlight ... But from what I understand those with a deficiency need supps because they can't absorb it from sunlight.

As for my life changes ... I have been stressed because I have a new job starting later this year and I'm very nervous about it as its a big change from my current dead end job.

Also I guess I've just been a lot more wrapped up in my training than ever before .... I've always taken it very seriously but recently I've been obsessing much more about it and always adding extra sets as I never feel like I've done enough.

I'll try and post up a list of my exact average diet later and break down the macros ....

My fat intake is actually pretty good as I eat whole eggs (6 per day) and I have peanut butter and coconut oil with my other meals ...

The low libido thing is very new to me and only started occurring a couple weeks ago.

That would do it. Cut out the extra sets as a start. How people handle stress varies widely, so look in to ways to lower it/handle it better.

[benben2356]

Never thought stress could have such a profound impact but as you said ... It can affect people I'm a lot of ways.

I'll try and get it under control ... Extra sleep and relaxation techniques could help big time if I can actually implement them... Trouble is my mind tends to run me ragged whenever I try and switch off.

[Plateauplower]

BTW, I was not suggesting you have a vit D deficiency, only using that as an example of a miarad of various simple things it could be.

However if you have additional stress and other variables DB mentioned then that could play a part as well. Still not a bad idea to get checked out medically while you deload a little.

When I start to get into a recovery deficit the first thing that usually happens is I start to sleep poorly. I can usually catch it by that point and am able to get myself back on track before it gets too far. I doubt that for me, when that happens it is a result solely of my training more than likely it is a combination of factors. I don't think it's very easy for a novice or intermediate to overtrain themselves. It seems more an issue with elite lifters having the ability to tax themselves into that kind of "overtraining" simply from training stimuli. For the rest of us it's likely a combination of training, life stress, nutrition, or perhaps and undiagnosed illness if you have a lot of symptoms that you describe that are chronic rather than acute and quickly resolve themselves.

[KyleAaron]

It's been 12 years. Have you gone 12 years in your paid work without taking more than a week off? If so, you'd be sick of work.

Take a month off. 4 weeks.

Come back, do a linear progression with the aim of hitting your old lifts in 3 months. Just lay the numbers out and work backward to see where you need to start, even if it means 1kg jumps, so what. Most likely this will be about 50% of your current lifts. Yes, that will be "too easy." You obviously have a problem with "too easy" since you added things to 5/3/1. So practice "too easy."

Overall this will give you a 1 month mental break from the gym, which after 12 years is probably enough that you will actually miss it and look forward to coming back. And the first 2 months of the linear progression to return to where you were will be so easy that combined with the 1 month off, that's 3 months of not stressing your body.

Once you've done that, go back on 5/3/1 and this time don't fck with it.

[fedewab2]

But i am experiencing all of these symptoms on a daily basis and have been for quite some time ...

Lethargy
High resting heart rate
Anxiety
Depression
Zero libido
Can't sleep for ****
Irritable
Can't enjoy anything in life
Performance regression
no motivation for anything….

It is my inexpert understanding that these are symptoms for clinical depression. “Clinical depression”, or melancholia, as opposed to “depression” used in the slang. This is not a diagnosis.

[KyleAaron]

They are, but they are also symptoms of overtraining.

I would say that in either case, taking a break from the gym and slowly ease back into it would help.

[BeltaneLabelle]

I'm 31 years old and have been bodybuilding / strength training for 12 years consistently.

I'm a natural lifter ... And my lifts are not impressive by any means - Infact everything is pretty pathetic apart from my deadlift.

I've never taken more than a week off and even that is only about twice a year for holidays.

I've always trained For progressive overload on the big compounds and rarely do much isolation stuff ..

my staples are
Squat
Deadlift
Bench
Chin ups
Military press
Inc db press
Dips
Lat pulldowns

Usually whatever programme I'm following will revolve around these excercises whether it's an upper lower split , ppl , full body , 531 ... etc etc


But over the last few months my strength and overall fitness seems to be going down the crapper real fast and I'm struggling to even finish my workouts.

I feel exhausted and depressed all the time and just don't seem to be able to push myself as hard in the gym.

Every week I seem to be losing reps and reducing the weight and it still seems hard to get through the workout.

And as a result I really just feel like I want to give up right now.

Im 6,2 and currently weigh 186 pounds at 15 percent body fat - probably less than that as I have very deep cuts and full abs intercostal etc when I flex ...

Deadlift - 220 kg 1rm
Bench - 115 kg 1rm
Military press - 72kg 1rm
Squat - 120kg 1rm

These are my current stats and my 1 rep maxes haven't changed as I'm still capable of getting a good single on them ...
It just seems to be my endurance and reps and overall work capacity that has taken a nosedive as of late.

For instance - a few months ago I could do 10 good chest to bar chin ups with 15 kg hanging off my belt.

And now I struggle to do 10 at just body weight and I'm fried after one set.

It could be a cardio issue - I only do cardio one day a week which possibly isn't enough and maybe that's why I'm feeling like crap and running out of energy - maybe I'm just unfit.

Or maybe my body is just finally shutting down and telling me I need time off after all these years...

I've read up on overtraining and for the most part I've always shrugged it off as an excuse for people who don't want to lift hard on a consistent basis..

But i am experiencing all of these symptoms on a daily basis and have been for quite some time ...

Lethargy
High resting heart rate
Anxiety
Depression
Zero libido
Can't sleep for ****
Irritable
Can't enjoy anything in life
Performance regression
no motivation for anything

I've also just recently started getting pain in my wrist which is interfering with my pressing

So maybe there is some truth to it ..... Or maybe I'm just looking for an excuse to quit

I don't know my heads a mess to be honest ...

Strange thing is that despite all this I will still be back again tomorrow Regardless lol

Einsteins definition of insanity right .... Keep doin the same **** and expecting a different result

Sorry for the long depressing rant ... But I'm just feeling lost in my training right now and can't seem to pull myself out of it ...

After 12 years I should be an absolute beast by now .... But sadly Im thinking it's either time to jump on the gear or Persue something healthier like running.

Has anyone ever found themselves in this situation ? What's the best course of action to take ?

I really don't want to give up and I've overcome lots of plateaues in the past ... But never anything like this

I'm getting 3000 - 3500 cals per day with lots of eggs , oats , brown rice , chicken , peanut butter , chicken , coconut oil , fish , vegetables and cottage cheese , wholemeal bread etc

And I'm currently on a 4 day per week upper lower split (something I've always thrived on in the past)

Previously I was on wendler 531 for nearly a year but screwed it up by adding too many extra AMRAP sets and first set lasts and I never used the deload ..... But I did still make good strength gains despite a few resets.

I agree with the other users. You need to re evaluate your training methods.
Take a deep breath and remind yourself what you're doing this for.
Stay strong man, we're all with you on this one.

[EjnarKolinkar]

Never thought stress could have such a profound impact but as you said ... It can affect people I'm a lot of ways.

I'll try and get it under control ... Extra sleep and relaxation techniques could help big time if I can actually implement them... Trouble is my mind tends to run me ragged whenever I try and switch off.

You aren't alone, see college coaches have to back off on programs for athletes in their prime and at high level as their stress levels go up with academic work, life changes, etc. Lots of high school athletes suffer Junior year with heavier scholastic stress. And we all vary a bit in how we recover body part to body part, and in terms of volume and frequency. A little overreaching can go too far and we can get to where our progress slows.

You have to remember this isn't about winning the training Olympics, but making measurable progress. If progress stops you have to get it started again as others have said.


http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/tra...t-part-1.html/

^ series on overreaching and overtraining from Lyle Mcdonald has some good generic info.



http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Health...ubHomePage.jsp

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Health...p#.V4wO5bgrKUn

^American heart association has a good write up on dealing with stress. Lots more resources for this on the webz and plenty of options to talk to people IRL about this stuff.



You can always find folks to talk to IRL about the bad feelings too. Don't underestimate how much that might help. 40 million Americans have anxiety and approximately 14.8 million deal with major depressive disorder. There are a lot of resources out there if you think you might need some help.

[gbk56]

....

Im 6,2 and currently weigh 186 pounds at 15 percent body fat - probably less than that as I have very deep cuts and full abs intercostal etc when I flex ...

...


I've read up on overtraining and for the most part I've always shrugged it off as an excuse for people who don't want to lift hard on a consistent basis..

But i am experiencing all of these symptoms on a daily basis and have been for quite some time ...

Lethargy
High resting heart rate
Anxiety
Depression
Zero libido
Can't sleep for ****
Irritable
Can't enjoy anything in life
Performance regression
no motivation for anything

Sorry for the long depressing rant ... But I'm just feeling lost in my training right now and can't seem to pull myself out of it ...

After 12 years I should be an absolute beast by now .... But sadly Im thinking it's either time to jump on the gear or Persue something healthier like running.

Has anyone ever found themselves in this situation ? What's the best course of action to take ?

...

I'm getting 3000 - 3500 cals per day with lots of eggs , oats , brown rice , chicken , peanut butter , chicken , coconut oil , fish , vegetables and cottage cheese , wholemeal bread etc

And I'm currently on a 4 day per week upper lower split (something I've always thrived on in the past)

...

Sounds like classic overtraining. Need to re-evaluate what you are doing and give your body what it needs to recuperate either through diet or rest. Your body is beginning to revolt and pushing harder will probably result in injury or worse.

I went down this road and mine was because of age. Just couldn't recover properly from workouts and it gradually got worse and wose until I got injured deadlifting. I still train with the same frequency and am making gains but I spaced apart my heavy days more than before to allow for enough recovery time, and slowly increased volume. I think I am at a good point now because I am making gains and am still deadlifitng too! All my lifts are slowly increasing and I dont have the overtraining symptoms anymore.

In your case it may be training or it may be diet or a combination of both. It may be a good idea to experiment with tweaking your diet or training to determine what works best for you. Try tweaking you training first and see what happens. It may be the volume or the load. You probably will have to experiment to see what works for you.

Good luck

[drudixon]

First, congratulations on your accomplishments so far. Your lifts are just fine. Avi pic looks better than most could ever aspire to.

Agree with the others. Take some time off.

I just moved (again) and haven't been in the gym for 2 weeks. Joints feel awesome and yesterday was first day back. Lifts didn't suffer much.

For the new job, just do as much prework as you can to learn and trust the process.

Gl Op

[chibito]

lol at training HARD for 12 years.

brb fried SNS
brb fried joints
brb virtually all gains were made

take one month off.

train only 3 times per week from now on.

branch out of liftting, learn a new skill, take some dance salsa lessons. (meet plenty of bishes also)

[benben2356]

Wow just woke up to all these responses ... Thank you everyone for taking time to give your feedback on my situation.

Speaking of lyle McDonald I did follow one of his training templates for about 2 years and made great gains so thanks for linking that

And thanks for the compliment on my Avi pic ... I have a few way more recent ones on my profile taken about a week ago (you'll have to excuse the daft hat lol)

I seem to have one of those physiques that looks absolutely shredded in the right lighting when posing - but when relaxed and in a less flattering light I just look soft and watery and pretty average.

That's why I assume I'm about 15 percent because of the soft look when relaxed ...

But when I hit a pose in a decent light I literally look about 7-8 percent.

That might be a result of not doing much pump style training and always going heavy...

Thank you for the advice on the anxiety and depression too ...

I think it could be training related as my days always seem to revolve around my workout and work schedule ...

So I very rarely have a whole day to just enjoy life or see friends

And when I do see my friends on rare occasions I always seem strangely vacant and unable to relax and enjoy myself.

I think a week or two off could really help but it's a very hard thing for me to do.

My joints are screaming and could probably really use the break..

- when you mention starting over with linear progression I'm assuming starting strength would be a good programme to go with until my lifts are back up to scratch ...

I've never actually run SS ... But
I built most of my lifts on full body compound based workouts and upper lower splits.

In my teens and early 20s I did a lot of bro splits which I really enjoyed the most but didn't really progress much as I was just your classic pump chaser back then.

I'm still primarily concerned with bodybuilding and "being aesthetic" ... But I realised a long time ago that getting stronger is the best way to do that as a non enhanced lifter.

Jim wendler would probably murder me as I really did bastardise his program ...

I made some good gains but I just screwed with it too much.

[michail71]

It's ok to bastardise that program as long as the basics remain, which includes the deload week. I've been doing 5/3/1 for about 3 years now and the last year has been with the body building accessory template.

I'm in the tail end of a cut and when I come out of it I'm going to drop the weight and go to a 8/6/3 scheme. I'm going to add volume, refocus on form, speed and conditioning.

Consistency is a great thing but pushing progression for so long without changing things up can put you up against a wall and leave you run down.

Take a vacation and then try changing things up some. Keep it fun.

[MikeWines]

1. Get blood work done from someone who is going to test a fully panel of markers, not just your general HDL/LDL/Fasting glucose/etc.
2. Start using HeadSpace on a daily basis: https://www.headspace.com/
3. Make sure your sleep hygiene is good.
4. Learn how to destress (what works for you?) and take time for yourself.
5. Learn how to listen to your body. Don't just lift b/c you know you're supposed to, lift b/c you feel good and you want to.
6. Read this: Reframing What Is Truly Important

I've walked in your shoes and I'm still currently working through the recovery process. It most certain isn't always as simple as just merely taking time off but your first priority should be to work on your sleep and also sort out any gut health issues (food intolerances, increased intestinal permeability, etc.).

In regards to sleep, I've written about the topic somewhat extensively, see both articles below:

When Nothing Else Works: 5 Solutions To Cure Chronic Insomnia
Hacking Your Sleep

In terms of supplementation to help improve circadian rhythms, I'd HIGHLY recommend Kirk Parsley's product: Sleep Cocktail

No, it isn't cheap but that's b/c the ingredients and the dosages aren't cheap. You get what you pay for in the supp industry.

In terms of stress and adaptogens, look into Adrenotone and ChatecholaCalm from Designs for Health. Use them in the short term to help modulate your stress response and diurnal cortisol rhythm. But, in the long run you need to learn how to cope with stress more effectively and improve your lifestyle to offset the external distress.

[KyleAaron]

6. Read this: Reframing What Is Truly Important

That's a good one.

Dan John expresses it this way: work, rest, play, pray. Note: "pray" isn't necessarily religious, it's just some alone time! "Sit and watch the waves hit the beach" kind of stuff. If you put everything into work, the rest suffers. If you just rest, well that's sloth and nothing gets done. If you just play, again nothing is achieved. If you just pray, you'll have no friends. So these things have to be in balance.

Note it's not a fixed-size pie. If you expand one you can expand them all. The 50hr work week is more doable if you use a jacuzzi every night.

Unless you're a professional athlete, the gym is not work, it's play. Work you have to be very focused, play you can... play! This is why so many of us said, go try some other sport for a bit. You don't need 8% bodyfat and a 200kg squat for your health. You do have to eat well and lift, but... There's no reason to be always strict and to always be pushing in the gym.

The old-time strongmen used to say that you have to give your body a break or your body will give you a break. You can play harder if you rest harder.

[MikeWines]

TYou don't need 8% bodyfat and a 200kg squat for your health.

Indeed, the fitness industry has warped this perception DRASTICALLY. There are many individuals who appear to be healthy on the outside but I bet if did a full workup on blood assays, you'd quickly see that they're in a mess of trouble.

The article above puts it more succinctly than I ever could:

To all the coaches out there, the amount of weight you lift or your 500m row time is never about health. It is about performance which is not synonymous with health. Performance can be driven through health or as some say performance is where health goes to die. Nevertheless, performance will never be an objective marker of health and should not be the only value you collect even though in certain scenarios it may top your list of importance.

[KyleAaron]

There was an article on I think the elite fts site, they said basically that risk of injury/illness vs activity was a U-shaped curve. That is, very inactive people get hurt and sick, and very active people get hurt and sick, but moderately active people are usually alright. Very inactive get the pleasure of slothful gluttony, and very active get the pleasure of the glory of it all - but they both pay a price for this.

It's open to argument what "moderately active" means in concrete terms. How much should I lift, how fast should I run? I think it's probably a pretty broad range. I think basically everyone needs to do a novice linear progression with barbells in some basic programme like Starting Strength, something involving squats and presses at least. This will take healthy women to squatting (in kg) 60-80, benching 35-45, deadlifting 80-100, and men to 100/75/120 at least, in 3-6 months. Add in that popular 10,000 steps a day and I think most people would be in a good place health-wise. Yes I know, numbers people here will scoff at. But I'd note they're numbers the vast majority of those posting here haven't achieved, and numbers which would be inconceivable to most of your co-workers, friends and family.

You could probably come up with equivalents for kettlebells, machines, participation in sport of whatever.

[benben2356]

Some absolutely fantastic words of advice MikeWines and KyleAaron ..

Thankyou so much .... How do I rep people on here ? Lol

I have been looking into meditation lately and had never heard of Headspace ... I've just signed up for an account

Also I'm really interested in the sleep cocktail .... I can live with the price as long as it's effective ... Ive always been a bad sleeper for as long as I can remember so I think I could really benefit from it - I use ZMA which helps a tiny bit but certainly not as much as I'd like.

You guys are bang on the mark about health not being synonymous with performance.

My lifts I guess are ok for someone of my weight , height and leanness ... And I love running as it really clears my head.

But despite my achievements I don't feel "healthy" in the slightest.

I'm always lethargic and tired ... Something always aches and mentally I'm a complete mess.

Speaking of "taking up another sport"
I would love to focus on running as it seems to be something i naturally progress at very easily .... And it really makes me feel great for a few hours afterwards.

But I dread to think how much muscle & strength I would lose ...

And due to my extremely obsessive nature and tendency to always push too hard .... I would probably just end up going down another path of exercise dependence.

I like the pie analogy you guys made and can see that mine is way off base.

My priorities in life are all wrong and it seems I'm literally just living to work and beat myself up in the gym.

I'll have a good read tonight on the reframing link