Break from the gym

[Throwinheat]

What’s up guys, I’ve been working out for the last 2 years non stop with no real off time. I’d say one day a week I would take off.

I’m always on edge. I snap at things I don’t normally care about. I didn’t even know what anxiety was and now I have it. I know the gym is the cause of all of this bcuz nothing drastically has happened in my life. COVID hasn’t had any real affect in my life besides walking around with a mask.

Everyone in the workout community talks about how the gym is so good for mental health. They don’t talk about if you don’t take adequate rest it can hurt you.

I’m on day number 4 of no gym and I do feel like it’s helping. It’s hard for me to take this break bcuz I’m such an active person. I’m thinking a month off and then seeing where I’m at.

Have any of you guys felt what I’m feeling?

[Olympia2018]

Nope can’t relate, sounds like the case of bitchoritis, aka low testosterone. Eat more meat chump

[AlexSays]

Overtraining, chronic fatigue, burnout blah blah

Basically various things can happen when you don't manage things properly:

Psychologically: It sounds like you might be being a little obsessive with regards to working out. If you are too invested mentally in this (and it isn't for your professional living) then eventually you are going to become overwhelmed and mentally strained. This needs to be a small (if important) part of your life and shouldn't consume your attention when outside the gym. You also shouldn't be going to the gym more than you need to because you 'can't just not work out'.

Physically: If you train too often, at too high an intensity, for too long you can reach an overtrained state. You have repeatedly overworked your muscles without programming in adequate recovery. This can lead to various physical symptoms (fatigue, soreness, steep decline in energy and performance). These physical symptoms can over-carry into psychological ones (mental fatigue, anxiety, short tempered-ness).

I think it may be time for a solid 1 week break and a big rethink about your programming. I do not know how advanced you are but you do not need to be in the gym 6 days a week if you cannot cope with it. If you are going to be in 6 days a week you need to incorporate much better intensity management into your routine and progression phases.

[EliKoehn]

What are your stats OP?

I have a feeling you're probably not regularly lifting with any great intensity, even if you're "at the gym" a lot.

[Ironface]

The only way I could see gym causing anxiety is if you get down to such a low bodyfat % that it starts to mess with your hormones.

Apart from that, gym shouldn’t cause or aggravate anxiety - it should help it. I suffer from anxiety and it’s during and after a workout that I feel most at ease.

[smokinal]

Overtraining, chronic fatigue, burnout blah blah

The only way I could see gym causing anxiety is if you get down to such a low bodyfat % that it starts to mess with your hormones.

Apart from that, gym shouldn’t cause or aggravate anxiety - it should help it. I suffer from anxiety and it’s during and after a workout that I feel most at ease.

Agree^^^

You're overtraining man
Gotta have balance young grasshopper. Start back when you're ready at 3 days per week. Make your workouts fit into your lifestyle.

[davgrav]

When our quarantine started, I stopped going to the gym, too, and it was a very difficult two weeks. It was unaccustomed to being out of rhythm, but I kept working out at home. Such a break was even good for me.

[GeneralSerpant]

I've been posting on here for a while and I'd say that adherence to appropriate resting protocols has been very apparent among the general consensus.

It's not very precise or apparent where it breaks down between progression and growth, but it's prescribed nonetheless for both avoiding issues of overtraining and benefiting hypertrophy.

[Garage Rat]

Scheduled breaks aren't a bad thing if you really need them.
You could also just back off volume or do bodyweight as a rest/recovery type thing.
I feel you should do some activity if you take the time off from weight training.
Doing absolutely nothing is really reserved for a major injury or sickness that prevents you from lifting.
Good luck on what ever you decide.

[radrd]

I'd switch to a 3- or 5-day a week program and schedule a week off at regular intervals and see how it goes. When you're at the gym, make every minute count with intense workouts and just enough time between sets for recovery. Try supersets and giant sets to increase the intensity and reduce time spent. Don't let it occupy more time than necessary. I wouldn't quit cold turkey for any significant length of time until you first try a revised approach. And even if you quit the gym, maybe consider a home rowing machine or at least regular walking to stay healthy.