My family recently had a life lesson about how to train and when to push yourself.
My daughter, who is a swimmer, is hardcore. Recently she's been feeling the anxiety that we're all living with, but in her case, her specific anxiety had to do with her swim times.
She is a super hard worker, despite her hard work, her swim times were still getting worse. This then, made her even more anxious and made her work even harder. So, her body was revolting because she was EXHAUSTED.
Her coach explained to her there are a few different kinds of workouts. What she is in right now is a maintenance cycle. The point of the daily workouts is to maintain fitness levels, not to level up. There is zero possibility of competition any time soon, so we're just doing what we do, working on form and technique, and trying not to get injured.
This resonates for me, because how many times have I pushed, and pushed, and pushed, without getting the results that I was looking for. The conversation with my daughter, made me stop and consider what cycle I am in right now. For me, I'm not getting results because I'm in a cycle of learning and content creation. I understand now that I'm also in a maintenance cycle. I'm moving toward something bigger, but I need to cut myself some slack.
Hopefully, this gives you permission to allow yourself a maintenance cycle. If you're getting ready for the big event, by all means, consider pushing, but if you don't have a competition coming yet, maybe you can find a way to chill.
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