Overall Volume

Everything we throw at our bodies accumulates and counts towards our overall volume of "stress" placed on us.  Our formal training is only one of those elements.  But you also have to factor in work, family, social activities, nutrition, sleep (or lack thereof) and all other things we traditionally think of as "stress" (financial worries, relationship friction, deadlines, etc).  Much of this stuff we have little control over.  We need to be able to modulate the rest depending on our overall volume of stress.

I am currently in the middle of what is undoubtedly the craziest week of my year.  It is the week of the Canadian Ski Instructor's Alliance Level 4 course.  Working on this course is physically demanding, but more importantly it is mentally and emotionally demanding.  The people taking this course are looking to attain the highest level of certification in the land, and there is a lot of ego, anxiety, excitement and expectation in the air.  So you need to make sure you are on top of your game.  It is also a 6 day course with a full day of Course Conductor training before it starts.  The days are on snow are full and the evenings are taken up with indoor theory work.  But on top of all that I am giving group fitness training sessions in the evening and have an hour commute to the ski hill every day.

So obviously my overall volume of stressors is much higher than usual!  But what about my training plan?  With all the progress I've made lately towards my new goal.  It has been tempting to want to stick to the program during this more intense week.  But in the end I came to my senses and realized that it would be folly to try to add my regular training schedule on top of what I am already doing.  So I cut way back.  I have done one mini-session between two classes on Monday evening.  I plan another mini-session this evening.  Then I'll probably do another mini-session on Friday evening and then two days of complete R&R over the weekend.  The mini-sessions last less than 30 minutes including warm-up and cool-down.  And they incorporate the "money" movements from my regular training plan, minus any of the more "leg" driven movements, as my legs are getting significantly taxed during my days on-snow.

So I just wanted to drop that quick post to remind you to keep an eye on your overall volume of stress in your life and make sure you adapt your training to match it.  You need to have a plan and a goal.  That is the only way to get where you are going.  But the plan is a guide and you need to navigate around whatever challenges you have along the way.

OK.  Back to work... ;-)