Knowing When To Quit

      Freakonomics, a podcast on the hidden side of everything, recently had a podcast about knowing when to quit.  In our current culture, the concept of quitting is anti-American.  However, in economic terms there are times when it is the best choice.  Why waste years in a dead end job that is unrewarding?  Why continue to train the same way without getting the results you desire?  Why continue to be frustrated by a lack of change in any area of life? Stop investing time and resources into things that are going nowhere.  Move on and invest in areas that will produce noticeable gains.  Ask for help or research other techniques.

      Champions persevere, but when does toughness become stupidity?  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  Triathletes Matt Dixon and Sam McGlone had to retire from professional racing before they reached their prime due to over-training.  Dave Scott was repeatedly injured throughout his career.  He was unable to race in Kona in 1981, '88, '90, '91, '92, & '93 due to injuries.  In the ITU, Vanessa Fernandez, Paula Findley, and Helen Jenkins all skyrocketed to dominate performances only to be out of competition the following year.

      One way to prevent this vicious cycle is to have an objective system in place.  Monitor your progress/state of affairs on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis and have some predetermined steps that you commit to initiating.  For instance, if I feel sick for 3 days in a row then I will go to the physicians office.  If I gain an inch in my waistline then I will add 15 minutes of daily exercise.  Objective measures and systematic rules help minimize the influence of emotions that can distort reality in the moment.  Frequent assessments also help us realize benefits much more rapidly than waiting until the end of the year.

      Frequent assessments also make it easier to take risks.  We may want to change our training, eating, or behaviors, but we are afraid of adverse effects.  Clients with eating disorders may want to have healthier skin, but they are afraid of gaining weight.  If they had a system in place with objective measures, it would make it easier to start.  For example, they could add one serving of healthy fats at each meal then weigh themselves and check their skin three times a week.  After three weeks, if they have gained more than X% of weight they could stop.

My Plan: I plan to assess a few measures every morning Monday to Friday.  I plan to assess sleep quality, energy levels, mood, previous days training performance, muscle soreness, heart rate, and physical symptoms of sore throat, headache, nausea, or diarrhea.  If any two are worse than normal, I will go easy that day.  If two or more are present for three straight days, I will walk for 45 minutes instead of exercising.  One could also use training data such as time, power, or heart rate changes to initiate predetermined steps.

Here is a similar checklist by Mark Allen. 

• You have more than one night in a row or more than 2 nights in a week of restless sleep.
• Your legs throb at night in bed.
• You have a loss of appetite even though you are training a lot.
• You are irritable and little things are really bugging you.
• Your resting heart rate in the morning is 6-10 beats above normal.
• You feel like your muscles are burning even at low heart rates during training.
• Your perceived exertion is extremely high even at a low heart rate.
• You feel generally tired and cannot sustain normal training heart rates for even short periods of time.
• You feel worse after warming up than did before you started working out.
• Your training is a seesaw. One day you are flying, then next you are wasted and can barely move. 

Here is what you do with your results: 

• If you answered yes to 1 or 2 of these questions, you might be in a plateau and will need to monitor your training volume and intensity. Back off slightly from planned workouts and see if the symptoms disappear.
• If you answered yes to 3-4 of these questions, you are definitely in a plateau and could benefit from a week or two of reduced volume in your training and from cutting speed work out completely.
• If you answered yes to 5 or more of these questions, you have been in an over-trained state for some time and should consider taking three or more weeks off of serious training. Cut back to active recovery workouts only during this period. Avoid the temptation to jump back into full training the second you start to feel better.

"Remember that if you are very over-trained, feeling better will only be a relative scale. You may feel better than you did at your lowest point but you can still be weeks away from being fully charged back up and ready to go back into your full routine."