5 Ways To Maximize Your Training Whilst Minimizing Burnout

Regardless of the types of training and exercises that you’re doing and goals - to improve your health, looks, and/or to compete in a sport. Experiencing some form of short-term physical and mental burnout is all part and parcel of training and it’s conducive to helping us progress with our training in the long run, if it’s interpreted and managed correctly.

With that in mind, here are 5 things you can take note of to maximize your performance at the gym whilst keeping burnout at bay.

1. Recovery is numero uno. You can exercise as much as you want, but without addressing your recoverability - nutrition, sleep, and stress, you’re not only short-changing your progress and productivity but also setting yourself up for potential injuries and chronic fatigue.
   
   The key is finding the right balance between training and recovery;
   - Eat to fuel your recovery and to support your training and goals.
   - Aim for 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep nightly.
   - Manage your stress levels well by practicing meditation and having some “me time” during the day to prevent mental clutter.
   

2. Programming matters. If you’re committed to making good gains and want to keep them on for good, having a set training program that is tailored towards your needs, goals, and preferences can make all the difference in the world in terms of the quality of the results you’ll be getting.
   
   A sound training program would embody the basic principles of progressive overload (gradually increase the challenge via load, reps, time, movement complexity, etc), suits your basic physiological availability and needs (muscular strength, joint, posture, etc), and specificity and thought process (exercise selection and order, and purpose of the exercise) with proper periodization.
   
   If you’re uncertain, best work with an experienced coach and research online to learn more about training methodologies and experiment around.
   

3. Keep track and monitor your progress regularly. Yes, it can be tedious but think of it as information collection to help you make better decisions, whether to continue on the current path if it’s working or to change course if it’s not. Sure, you can still make gains without tracking and hopping on to different training programs and routines, but you wouldn’t know what works best for you and if you’re on the right track towards your goals.
   
   Keeping track of your progress regularly can also be a good source of accountability and motivation, especially on days when you don’t feel like training, simply flip through your training logbook and look back to when you first started, I can promise you that you’ll get a kick out of the progress you’ve made.
   

4. Knowing when to “save some in the tank” and when to go “HAM”. It’s important to not rush the process and loading phase. Be conservative at times especially at the beginning of your lifting journey especially when you’re trying to master and refine a certain exercise technique. Spend as much time as you need to grasp the control and feel of the movement, then progress your weights and reps gradually as you improve.
   
   To help you measure your efforts and progress as well as consistency with your efforts to use a scaling system such as
   1) RPE - Rate of Perceived Exertion, with 1 being easiest and 10 being hardest. Or
   2) RIR - Reps In Reserve, in short, how many reps you have left in the tank before fatigue.
   
   When in doubt, err towards the conservative side and make small incremental changes the next session than going all in and emptying your deck too soon.
   

5. Take one step backward to take two steps forward. In other words, take a deload. A deload is when you reduce your training effort and/or volume to what you’d normally do for a brief period to facilitate recovery and minimize fatigue.
   
   For instance, training hard for 8-12 weeks followed by a week of deload then repeat. When and how to apply a deload depends on the individual’s training productivity/performance and recovery. Often, it’s not because of overtraining but under-recovering from it.  After all, the most effective training is the one you can recover from.

I hope you've found this article helpful to your training journey. If you have any questions regarding training, fat loss, muscle building, or struggles that you’re currently facing, feel free to drop me a DM on my Instagram or the “Get In Touch” page, I’ll be more than happy to help you out.