Work Capacity: how much is enough?

[Brian Stone]

Originally Posted by Mike ODonnell

It's better to be rested and ready to go if your real goal is 24/7 GPP, rather than burned out and useless. It's alot different to use overtraining and then be able to take downtime to peak before a competition than to go full force all the time and be expected to perform day in and out.

I'm going to steal a line from Mark Sisson: "Make your easy workouts longer and easier and your hard workouts shorter and harder"

Us "old" guys (over 35) tend to know that less is more when it comes to training nowadays.....as I'm in it for the long haul.

I'm not at 35 yet, but I have found that this rings true for me to a great degree. After doing reasonably long stretches of CF programming, I found that there are days (even following a rest day) where I have the energy but just not the mental fortitude to smash through another 110% metcon. My earliest weeks of CF I felt guilty about going and doing anything LSD or non "functional," despite the fact that some days I just find these workouts more rewarding in those instances.

I've since realized the value in embracing these inclinations, but it seems to be anathema to CF philosophy in my mind. That may be my own personal misinterpretation, but at best I think the community as a whole has a prejudice against it.

Don't want this to come off as a blast on CF at all, since I personally love it as a whole. It's mainly personal observation, preference, and opinion based on my (admittedly limited) experience with this type of programming.

[Garrett Smith]

The thing I simply don't understand is, regardless of modal domains and programming and work day to rest day ratios, where anyone can believe that they can push to 100% every training day (which heavily dips into the "fight or flight" systems of the adrenals, especially when reps are at failure levels) and not burn out.

[Donald Lee]

I just wanted to second the recommendation for Dr. Wilson's Adrenal Fatigue book. It's a fairly easy read. Most of the book is very practical, while there's a good chunk of science for those who are into the science.

It also offers a critique of the medical community.

[Alex Bond]

Anybody who doesn't believe in adrenal fatigue should do a 2000m row every day until they do.

[Garrett Smith]

Originally Posted by Alex Bond

Anybody who doesn't believe in adrenal fatigue should do a 2000m row every day until they do.

That is very funny and likely very true.

I think some 800m runs at full speed daily would possibly do the trick just as well!

[Steven Low]

Originally Posted by Garrett Smith

That is very funny and likely very true.

I think some 800m runs at full speed daily would possibly do the trick just as well!

5 days a week one arm chins will do it...

[Dave Van Skike]

geez, don't tell bike racers. you'll completely harsh their mellow.

if i'd have known about this i'm pretty sure i would have never been a bike messenger or completed a stage race. The track and criterium season would be out all together. ignorance isn't just bliss, apparently it increases your work capacity.

[Emily Mattes]

What makes adrenal fatigue different from overtraining? I've used them interchangeably.

[Alex Bond]

Originally Posted by Emily Mattes

What makes adrenal fatigue different from overtraining? I've used them interchangeably.

Adrenal fatigue refers specifically to fatigue of the nervous system, whereas overtraining refers to any time to your are taxing your body beyond its ability to recover. For me, adrenal fatigue is that feeling after a workout where your brain just feels tired and slow, like you are just a little drunk - can't concentrate as well, clearly communicate complex ideas, etc.

[George Mounce]

Originally Posted by Alex Bond

Anybody who doesn't believe in adrenal fatigue should do a 2000m row every day until they do.

Done. I don't have adrenal fatigue (and while it has a great description I'll be the doubting Thomas on this one). I never felt worn out by CrossFit and am in fact incorporating it back into my training regime. What I did feel was afraid I was going to push myself so hard that I would injure myself. Now that I know better, I can put a ton of stress on myself but not so much that I get injured.

Also I disagree that a medical problem has anything to do with feelings after a workout. A 1RM PR deadlift may cause a CNS response, but that isn't adrenal fatigue as it is being described by many practitioners. I still would like to see studies directly involving "adrenal fatigue" outside of the natural health world, because I'm having a hard time finding them, unless they are under the guise of Addison's, adrenal insufficiency or chronic fatigue syndrome.