I had a message recently from a fellow trainee and she asked a great question: is training anxiety a real thing?
I believe wholeheartedly that ‘training anxiety’ is a REAL thing. Hell yes. Why? Because I have experienced it. Last year I suffered it for about nine months leading up to a couple of my powerlifting comps through to the Summer Classic.
See, normally when we speak of anxiety and lifting we are talking about how training relieves anxiety and adds euphoria to our day – especially if we suffer depression (but heck even if you don’t).
As consistent lifters, we know how awesome it feels to lift iron. But what my fellow trainee was alluding too is the anxiety or pressure to lift a certain weight, to perform with a certain requirement for success in a given training session. And sometimes we can place a lot of pressure upon ourselves to do so.
Going into a deadlift, squat and bench session with a number in mind every time you train can be exhausting if you let it. I know I did. Worse, I have let it regulate my day and indeed my week if I ‘failed’ to achieve it – until the next time I went in to do said lift and I did achieve it. Crazy, hey?
Towards to end of December/January last year, I was doing ridiculous numbers for ridiculous reps. Like for example I was trying to ‘beat’ last week’s squats of 190kg for 5 reps (no wraps, I kid you not) and trying to rev myself up all week because I wanted to nail 7 reps.
I think that trying to chase weight and a number, of course, is wonderful, but doing it training session in, training session out is fraught with issues. I cannot even begin to outline them in this short blog but I can reflect and recognise burn out, that’s for sure. In fact, I knew it at the time. I was doing all kinds of things to ‘gee’ myself up each and every session. There was NO respite.
And I clung together – me, my injuries and my bad head space until I won the Classic and sure, I got my best total, but my nervous system was shagged.
Some of you more experienced lifters out there are probably shaking your heads and thinking ‘Rookie error’. You know, I would never in my wildest dreams have expected what I did in a client. And yet I know that there are some of you out there feeling the pressure from your Recomposer app, your coach, your own ‘set numbers’ and you are absolutely desperate to clinch them each and every time you train.
But there is a reason why there are protocols in the sport of powerlifting, including strong exercise prescription protocols. There are reasons behind being off-season, in season, peaking, rejuvenating, stepping back, cooling off, down time, rest time and then hitting it again hard. I am sure there are some of you who are going (if we used the PRE scale – perceived rate of exertion) a 10 out of 10 maximal effort each and every time. I am going to save you some time hopefully. Learn from me – it’s not good in the LONG term!
I am not suggesting for one second you don’t ‘bust ass’ in the gym each time you train. What I am saying is you cannot ‘go the hack’, train a 10 out of 10 each and every time. You just CAN’T. And you are NOT a lesser athlete because you can’t. Don’t even try! That’s my best advice. I did and for nine months I look back on what I was doing and it was crazy behaviour. (I was so overtrained that by 2-3 weeks out from comp I was driving an hour to go to other gyms in Melbourne to ‘hype’ me because I couldn’t summon any ‘energy’ at my local ones). This was in reflection a symptom of being well and truly overtrained.
What you’re going to be is not a better athlete training like a superwoman – and God knows we all feel at times we are. It’s going to leave you as a broken athlete. And I know by the end of January 2018 I was almost on the edge, almost broken and there is no coming back from that. Nup, none.
I think so many of us women want to be able to do it all, have it all and be it all. And that kind of self-induced pressure can eventually leave us feeling emotionally drained — and even resentful. Which sucks because it’s actually our choice to take it all on. What we do when we take on ‘achieving incredible numbers in the gym’ has to be done carefully and systematically because if we don’t it can bring us to the point of physical illness via adrenal fatigue, burnout, thyroid issues, hormonal imbalances, strength loss, burn out, loss of self-esteem and it may end your powerlifting dreams full stop!
In the context of trying to attain numbers all the time, every session, no matter what, week after week, month after month, just make sure you have good resting protocols amongst other things in your program. We all need respite on occasion.
Have you suffered training anxiety? How did you feel? Why do you think you feel it? What do you do when you don’t hit your numbers? Do you have a Plan B? Let me know at my Facebook page.