For Those Who Love to Train Hard

Jen Comas totes nails it with this post. It's a healthy way to think about just how much training you need. It's couched in terms of fat loss goals, but really, it's true for ANY goal.

Why I like it:

It's a smart throat-punch to all the "fitspiration" bullshit that tells you if you aren't crawling out of the gym, you haven't worked hard enough

While she acknowledges the mental payoff you might be getting from such a physical beating...she tells you to knock that shit off anyway.

I mean, I suspect heroin feels totes amazing, as well, but it's pretty obvious that you shouldn't do it, regardless. So, let's apply the same logic to overtraining: it might feel good, but it's not worth the high risk that it will Fuck. You. Up.

It can feel good to work up a sweat, and a bit of soreness can serve as a nice reminder that we moved our bodies. However, the sad truth is that neither of those things means much, if anything, with regard to how beneficial the workout was. Those things may feel nice emotionally, but they don’t always have a solid physiological carryover. 

...

The body treats training as a form of stress and reacts to it the same way that it reacts to anything else that’s stressful—sick kids, a looming work deadline, or being chased by a bear. Training can feel good emotionally, but stress is stress is stress, and cortisol will always respond accordingly. 

Go fetch some smarts: https://www.girlsgonestrong.com/training-hard/