Exercise program burnout

treatingmybodyright · February 2012

I am starting to hit the same wall I hit with P90X when I did the program four years ago (I made it through Week 10 last time and then hurt my back and couldn't continue). I'm liking the results, and I really, really want to stick it out, but it's only Week 6, and I'm a little burned out on the program--not exercise in general. I think I'm just exhausted with having to get up so early to complete the workouts, so maybe my tired brain is taking over, but I thought I'd reach out to see if any of you have experienced this kind of thing and to find out what you did to push through. I'm really committed to exercising 5-6 times a week, but I'm starting to feel a bit run down from getting up so early in the morning (4:15/4:30) five days a week (and that's my only option). Should I abandon the program for workouts that are a bit shorter or just do what I can when I can and get through program the best way I can? What would you do?

Thanks!

camiller02 · February 2012

I would suggest you mix it up, to make sure you get the excersise in. When you can do the P90X and when you cannot wake up just do a shorter workout. Remember the goal here is to workout.

bigtone34 · February 2012

I hit the "wall" two weeks ago. I took three days off and came back ready to go. I took it as my body needed a little break.

alyssa92982 · February 2012

Maybe switch up your timing of your workout if possible. Or take a a week off. I did that and was ready to go at it again that week off was eating me alive!

bug1114 · February 2012

I know you said that your only option is to wake up early, but is there no way you could fit it in at night? I used to do the 4am workouts, and they killed me. I found that even if I'm up late at night, I still feel better being able to sleep in an extra hour in the mornings.

treatingmybodyright · February 2012

I have a three-year-old, and my husband and I get home around 5:30 and try to hang out as a family until my son goes to bed at 9, and by that time, I'm ready for bed too (I'm definitely more of a morning person). I do sleep in on the weekends and workout in the afternoons then, so that helps, and I may just aim for three early workouts during the week and two workouts on the weekend and then throw in an extra workout when I can. Thanks for all the helpful feedback!

slacker80 · February 2012

Turn the music up louder, go longer, hit it harder, increase your caffeine prewrkout. maybe find a new time in the day. add some new exercise, or piece of equipment to change it up, and or add a heart rate monitor to motivate ya. don't lose site of your goal. get enough sleep. if you can at least get 7 hours of bed time prior to waking up, than in my opinion it's time to wake up early anyway. By some health magz and find that drive that got you here in the first place. and pray.

smpreston · February 2012

Do you have a solid goal or target to reach for? When i started my exercise journey back in May, I wanted to "Lose Forty by Forty". I had six months to lose forty pounds. I did my first complete round of P9X and followed it up with a hybrid round of P90X and TurboFire. Having that goal helped a lot as my motivation to get there was pretty high. I wanted to hit that goal. When I did, it was great. I'm now in another round of P9X, but without a solid target ahead of me, I'm finding that my motivation is lacking as of late.

Week Five of P90X is what I see as the toughest after Week One. You are in Week Six, so the new workouts are settling in and you are getting your weights and reps down for Chest, Shoulders and Triceps and Back and Biceps. I can see how it would be tough to look forward to that. However, you are halfway done. You've made it this far. You've gotten stronger, lost some weight and are probably doing better than you did on Week One. Keep that in mind.

If you stop P90X and start to sleep in, it might feel good for a week. But the weight might come back a you are no longer burning a bunch of calories first thing in the morning. What is you swap out Plyo and Yoga with Cardio X to give yo an extra 15-45 minutes of rest in the morning?

I wouldn't trade family time for your workouts. Going to bed at 9:00 isn't bad thing, The wife and I do it every night and we don't even have kids. We have a DVR to record anything we would want to watch on TV. We can read in bed, play each other in Scrabble on our phones or just go to sleep. She gets up at 5:15 for her workout and I walk the dog before starting my workouts at 6:15.

Meggles63 · February 2012

I also did P90x...I subbed some intervals and shorter cardio on the cardio days, which I found helpful. Also, as I became familiar with the routines, I often started ahead and continued while Tony was still talking. Not exactly supersets, but I could cut off some of the time and still get my workout in!

sammerlo · February 2012

i'm so glad you posted this! I have been feeling super tired for the past 2 weeks. Before I had my second baby (almost 3 years ago) I used to get up at 4:15 am and go to the gym for a 5:30 am class and I would run or do something before hand for at least 30-45 mins. I could only do that 4-5x a week. I was going to bed at 8:30-9:15 pm every night. If I had somewhere to be at night until 10 or 11 pm I could not get up to workout. It was great but I did get super tired and had to recharge. I would take a day or a few days off and sleep in and then I was ready to get back at it! I would wake up at 4:15 and my body would be ready to sweat but I just made myself go back to bed.
I think you are doing an amazing job of working out early, sticking to a healthy diet, going to work all day and then being a mom and wife too!
I told my husband I am going to bed early last night and the next few nights. I was thinking of working out on my day off today but I am going to rest. I think it's ok to take a break to rest and recharge but I have to remind myself I'm not quitting and it's all ok!

dubw · February 2012

Have enjoyed reading these posts. It is natural to burn out in exercise, for one thing, a mature body simply does not tolerate the abuse of a much younger person. I cringe when I see gung ho folks come to the gym and rip through everything five or six days a week for a few weeks then disappear. A professional trainer can advise each person on a logical program that will keep a client active for the long term. Good example is if you do Zumba twice a week now, change in two weeks to Cardio exercise class; perhaps if your gym offers a boot camp, try that for 10 weeks, then change to a different program. If the 5:30a kills you, arrange to work out at noon. Some people are better at 6p - try different times. Don't be ashamed of burnout, embrace it as a signal you need to change - perhaps even rest with T'ai chi or QiGong. Or, stretch out with Yoga or Pilates.

treatingmybodyright · February 2012

I can't tell you how thankful I am for your replies. I've been giving it some thought, and I've realized two things:

1. I'm just burned out--period--and mostly with work. I am a university professor, and I gave up my usual flexibility for an admin job last August, and it's more of a M-F 9-5 job, so my workout times are now limited to early mornings only. I cannot workout during the day because I work (except for weekends), and we don't have a gym convenient enough or cheap enough for me to turn to that option. I also haven't had much time off since mid-August, so I'm just burned out on work and its limitations, more than the actual program I'm doing or working out in general. If I had my choice, I would workout all day. I hate sitting at a desk--boring!

2. I'm getting a little impatient and complacent. I'm pretty close to my goal weight, and I'm actually at a weight that allows me to feel confident in my clothing, but that also means the rest of the weight is not going to come off easily, so I need to refocus on my goals and push through if I want to see those last 7 pounds disappear--for good. This won't be easy, which makes me a bit impatient, but I just need to regroup, maybe mix it up this week (I have a gazillion DVD programs), and then refocus on P90X. I need variety, and that's why I've always been an epic fail when trying to complete a program to the tee.

Anyway, I'm taking it easy today. I took a great nap with the kiddo, and I'm going to enjoy my day without worrying about things too much. I love to exercise, so no matter what, I won't completely cave on that. Exercising is a huge part of my overall well being, so I won't be giving that up anytime soon. Thanks again!

Pipsg1rl · September 2012

I super glad to have found this post. It is helping me evaluate why I just don't want to hang out with Tony Horton right now. I'm doing my first round of p90x and really don't want to give in.

But after working out seriously and watching my calories, I'm at a "good" weight for me.

An earlier commenter asked what the OP's goal is. I realized I DON'T HAVE A CURRENT GOAL!! I just want to have the feather in my cap of doing 90 days of P90X.

Thanks for the nudge. It was just what I needed.

Exercise program burnout

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