A Balanced Week of Workouts

Life is not always ‘perfectly structured’ — that’s the reality. Therefore, we should hold our workout regimen to the same expectations.

Should you strive to maintain a consistent fitness routine, that keeps you feeling healthy for the long haul, regardless of what comes your way? Hell yes! Does that mean you have to stick to a rigid schedule, with no room to modify on days where you can’t give 100%? Helllllllll no!

As living organisms, we have what’s called a “stress threshold.” This refers to the maximum amount of stress you can take on, before you experience undesired side effects, such as emotional overwhelm or physical symptoms (e.g., muscle tension, aches/pain, brain dog, lethargy, digestion issues). Stress tolerance is extremely individual, influenced by current mental health & physical status, clinical history, life circumstances, work duties, and more. Understanding and managing your stress levels is crucial for maintaining overall well-being.

Exercise, albeit extremely essential for health maintenance, does put our bodies under physiological stress. This is a beneficial thing, when it is programmed and dosed appropriately!!

How you structure your fitness routine will play a major role in achieving emotional regulation as well as nervous system, hormone, blood sugar and homeostasis.

People often want to meet their strength/cardio/mobility/aesthetic goals ASAP. And, I get that. But, to maintain results sustainably, you must be able to adapt your routine…so it remains achievable psychologically and physically.

After assessing your current stress levels and/or bandwidth to accommodate structured exercise, consider the following factors:

1. TYPE OF EXERCISE

   If you’re up for a more intense workout, things that make you breathe heavier, achieve a higher heart rate, and potentially sweat more are more systemically fatiguing (and therefore, intense). Intensity for the sake of intensity is not always beneficial… but striving to challenge your body generally, in a way that promotes your health, and to a degree that you can sufficiently recover from, is generally a great goal.

   If you need to dial down the intensity, choose activities that allow your heart and breathing rate to stay lower. You can still move your body and put in work, without tapping into your highest levels of effort. Lower intensity workouts should always be included in your week, regardless. But, if you had something more intense on the docket, but feel you’re very stressed and lethargic, making the swap is likely your healthiest choice. It will allow you to still complete intentional physical activity, while staying within your stress threshold.

2. LENGTH OF WORKOUTS
   If you’re able to accommodate a more intense workout, consider lengthening your session (i.e., more challenge to the system overall). Lengthening your workout can come in the form of adding additional circuits or repetitions into your routine (in a strength workout, for example), doing a cardio-based activity for a longer distance, etc.

   If you don’t have 100% effort to give today, consider shortening the duration of your session. If you were going to do 4 circuits (in a strength or HIIT workout, for example), do 2 instead. If you were going to hunker down for a 60-minute cardio endurance session (a run, let’s say), see how far you can go in 30 minutes, instead. Shorter length doesn’t necessarily mean “easier”, but it will cut down on the overall time in a heightened stress state which you endure. Again, this will help you stay within your stress threshold, when you’re sensing you need some more recovery to balance the intensity in your life.

3. FREQUENCY OF WORKOUTS

   If you’re feeling low-stress and well-recovered, you may want to increase the number of workouts you complete per week! Your current health status likely indicates you can tolerate more. For example, if you’re only doing 1 full body strength workout, add 1 more, with at least 1 day between sessions. When adding more, you should continue to assess, and tweak the number (and type, and duration) of workouts accordingly.

   If you’re feeling overwhelmed, and like you have too much on your plate, try reducing the number of workouts you complete per week. Again, less doesn’t mean “easier” in effort overall. But, if you have less days of structured exercise to keep up with, it will reduce the time your body is actively “stressed” overall, and it will likely feel much more attainable - giving you the psychological benefit you need to keep going. You can always add more, when you feel up for it. But, it’s important to be proud of any effort you put in. It’s all moving the train forward, and I want that train choo-chooing for the rest of your precious life.

4. ORDER & COMBINATION OF WORKOUTS

   If you’re sensing that you could do more, and add in more types of exercise or days per week of physical activity, great! But, remember that order matters, and health/fitness professionals (like Dr. Meg of Lovely Bones) structure workouts in a way that’s based on science principles…to keep your systems balanced, and promote your optimal health. For example, don’t just randomly add in another day of strength work. Think about what you’re currently doing. Are you only typically working arms and legs in the gym, for example? Add in another workout focused on your abs and low back, and make sure you don’t work the same muscle group to fatigue on consecutive days. Are you only doing cardio-based work? Add in a full body strength session. The combinations are endless. Make sure you reach out to a professional for guidance, especially if you’re not seeing the results you want, or you’re concerned in any way.

   If you think your routine is too full to keep up with, or you’re not recovering well due to the order of your workouts, shake things up! If you have strength and lower-intensity cardio days on lock, maybe remove any higher-intensity cardio for now, and see if you recover better and stay under your stress threshold. If you are doing leg-heavy cardio, and that’s impacting your leg strength in the gym the next day, re-order so that you put an upper body-focused or rest day in between. Approach your routine with a scientific curiosity, rather than with judgment and frustration, and eventually you’ll find the options that work best.

Here’s an example of how you can put these things into practice! Last week, Dr. Meg had a very full schedule and higher stress levels than usual. This is how she adapted her routine:

The bottom line?… Understanding and managing your stress levels is crucial for maintaining overall well-being. You never know what tomorrow will bring, but if you have the right tips & tools in your proverbial 'toolbox', you'll be set for life.

Not sure where you should start, or what options are on the table to keep you feeling well & on track? Visit LovelyBonesPT.com to work with a physical therapist/fitness trainer/mental health advocate who can create the routine that works best for YOU, help you adapt whenever you need to, and never look back.