This is a guest post by Tahlee Rouillon of The Attitude Revolution.
Before I became a certified Personal Trainer, I was an expert Catabolic Trainer. I tried to “whip” myself into shape by training harder and faster every day, ended up overtraining, and spent thousands of dollars on acupuncture, osteopathy and physiotherapy.
Before I get into the nitty gritty of expertise, first up is a little anatomy lesson to help you understand the mechanism behind catabolic training.
Catabolism + Anabolism = Metabolism
When you blast your pecs in the weight room or run 10k, our muscles require fuel for movement. They do this through a complicated process of breaking down energy called the catabolic pathway. This is represented by the pink area labeled “Training” in the graph above.
We’ve all heard of anabolic steroids right? They’re the ones that grow your muscles for you. They’re named after the anabolic pathway in the body whereby muscles repair and grow naturally during rest. This is represented in the little red area labeled “Recovery”.
When you’ve given your muscles sufficient time to rest (usually between 24 and 48 hours depending on how hard you train), your muscles get a little bit stronger and your fitness level improves. This is called “Supercompensation”. This process of supercompensation can really be applied to any pursuit of acquiring expertise.
It’s the duality of practice and rest that enables you to get a little better each time.
BUT – if you want to become an expert in catabolic burnout, you must avoid supercompensation at all costs and continue to train, train, train in the catabolic pathway!
3 Tips to Ensure Catabolic Success
- Train your whole body every day
We want to avoid any anabolic pathways (or “rest”) so catabolic trainers work every muscle every day.
- Give 100% maximum effort every time
Every muscle should be worked to failure. The harder you work those muscles, the bigger the breakdown of energy is, and the longer you’ll stay in the catabolic pathway.
- Rinse and repeat
Whatever your chosen activity is, repeat it as often as you can. Pump out those last few reps with no consideration to fatigue or form. That’s the catabolic way.
3 Indicators of Expert Catabolic Status
- You’ve “hit the wall”
When you become catabolic, you will feel more exhausted then you ever thought possible. Charlotte Anderson of The Great Fitness Experiment calls it a “metabolic reaction” and her explanation of symptoms is down pat.
- You’ve got the flu
Your immune system has packed it in and now you’re picking up bugs faster than a bug zapper.
- You’re staring at the ceiling of a physical therapist’s office
That form that you ignored while you were training is the shortcut to expert catabolism. Now you’re flat on your back on a physio’s bed and on your way to becoming flat broke.
Now, I know for some of you, this type of training sounds intense. And it is. It’s a grueling regime that requires a level of self-hatred not many people can sustain. And let’s face it – we’ve all experienced burnout of some kind when we apply the principles of catabolic training to the process of acquiring expertise.
Luckily there is a shortcut to expertise that circumvents the catabolic pathway.
Rest.
Easier said then done. Let’s break it down further as there are a few different approaches to resting shortcuts.
Learning How to Rest
- Take a day or two off
This is the probably the most obvious and easiest ways to rest. Remember, muscles grow during rest so give them a chance to recover and “supercompensate” over the next 24 – 48 hours. As Maya Angelou said “All great achievements require time”. While you might not need 10,000 hours of exercise to reach your fitness goal, you will need roughly equal time spent resting as you do working out.
- Use a periodisation program
Periodisation is a way that industry experts and elite athletes break down their training cycles into more manageable chunks. Think of it as the framework for the deliberate practice required to improve your performance.
When you create a specific long term (macro), medium term (meso) and short term (micro) training cycle you can effectively plan your workouts for optimum gains.
For example, your macro cycle could be 12 weeks before a marathon. Your meso cycle will be the days you schedule for training during each week. And your micro cycle will be the exact workout you will follow on a specific day. This means you can schedule days for heavy workouts, light workouts, and rest periods.
- R-E-S-P-E-C-T your body
This is the most subtle, but can be the hardest to master. If you (like me) have spent years trying to whip, guilt-trip, or shame yourself into shape, then you need a shift in attitude from self-criticism to self-respect.
The beauty of this process is that it doesn’t just apply to training. You can apply it to any goal or method of acquiring expertise. It requires you to pay close attention to your body, how you are feeling and respecting your needs enough to know when to expand your comfort zone and when to rest.
So, if your muscles are really aching and you’re feeling exhausted, respect your need to keep resting.
If you’ve got a bounce in your step and feel ready to tackle your next workout or practice session with vigour, then go for it tiger!
There definitely are a lot of people that do in fact over train (train to much with not enough recovery). I have seen some fitness groups that seem to all most promote over training. However I also see a lot of people who are not getting results because they are not doing enough exercise to create a catabolic effect. You need to work hard and often enough to breakdown, but give yourself sufficient recovery to build yourself back up better then you were before.
Absolutely Scott. You definitely need to put in the work to get the results, and then rest enough to give your body a chance to integrate the training.
Rest is super-important! I could not agree more!
Whenever I take a day or two off, I go back to the gym feeling super-energized and as if I am in a playground! On those days I feel I can push as much as I want!
However, on “tired days”, I just try to take it easy. I usually do lower weights with shorter breaks between sets.
The value of listening to your body could not be overstated. I really don’t understand why some people focus so intensely on what they should do vs. what they feel they can do.
Good on you Maria for listening to your body.
I know it took me a long time to learn this skill. I hated my body and what I looked like so I kept pushing and pushing to try to change it. I ignored my body’s signals for rest because I felt it was a sign of weakness.
Perhaps this fear is true for others who focus on the “should do”.
Happily, now I know the value of who I am and I trust in my body. This self respect has revolutionized my training.
Love it! I (obviously) had to learn this lesson the hard way. The really hard way. Resting is one of the most important things we can do for our health! Thanks for including me in your post!
Huzzah! You’re very welcome.
I used to go to the gym in weak attempts to train. Did I get some muscle, sure, but I could never train as hard or take the time to keep up with the muscle guys. Maybe that puts me in the “wussy” category. Although now that I study martial arts again and get put in wrists locks every other day, I don’t think so.
I’ve since changed my exercise lifestyle via diet and do Tai Chi 4-5 times a week. For me, It’s much more balanced, prevents injury and promotes well-being. However it is not intensity training by any means, it takes longer and develops connective tissue in ways weight lifting will not, plus you learn how to develop something call “internal power”. Now I go to the gym once a week, do some pushups every other day. I may run on the treadmill once a week. But overall I think I’m the fittest I’ve ever been, because I’m finally understanding my diet (did the elimination diet and cut out lots of sugar and refined products) and doing balanced exercise.
Do I have a six-pack of abs? Hell no! But I’m much happier doing something that challenges my mind and my body, while learning a bad-ass martial art that cultivates well-being (though not many teachers teach martial Tai Chi, unfortunately, I got very lucky to find one.)
Yay David. You’re so right. Part of training well is finding something that is joyful and sustainable for your body. I’m so glad you’ve found a training style that you love, keeps the injuries to a minimum and brings you joy and wellbeing.
Great article funny thing I was talking to someone this morning about this subject as they were weight training 5 days a week and doing cardio the other two days(much to much). I will tweet him your article Respect your body is a great line
Thanks Kevin. Much appreciated.