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Overtraining
I knew this would come up sooner or later, it always does. I jumped pretty hard for the last 14 days in a row. I had to go back and check the videos to count the days. I was trying to get as many "JumpRock Workouts" posted on YouTube as possible.

Now keep in mind I wasn't really aware I was pushing hard. To the contrary; I got up from the computer a couple of times yesterday intending to jump rope and it just wasn't on. I did end up going out a few times and doing multi-hoops just to burn off some brain-fog.

But really, it's a testament to how much fun jump rock is. When I'm editing videos I'm usually looking forward to jumping the next day. When I go to bed I'm looking forward to jumping the next day. I'm looking forward right now to when I jump again, which will probably be tomorrow.

I know I've mentioned over-training on the exercise bike, but I think it was more a case of poor nutrition - too poor to support the amount of physical effort expended over and over again to try to counteract the energy slumps from poor nutrition - so if it was over-training, it was only relative to the energy source.

Speaking of still being too fat - I think that's the other reason I've been pushing hard. I'm getting tired of seeing the fat day after day, and I'm sure other people are too, so in future, no more shirtless videos until the fat is gone. That means only two or three videos a day most of the time because unless the weather is just right I feel suffocated at that point - not hot necessarily, just stifled and suffocated, like my skin can't breathe.

The point, however, is the fat has slowly been receding, but too slowly. A lot of the perceived loss is due to more muscle and muscle tone, but that's probably slowing down. I can still see what look like dramatic changes, but I think it's just that in some spots as the fat has reaches bottom, they stand out when I jump. The real point, which I seem to be avoiding, is I'm not restricting my calories enough. So, no more shirtless jumping until I finally get rid of the last visible bouncy-bouncies. I don't do naked jump rope so forget it. I don't even understand men who like to walk around "nekkid". Some things need to be tucked away and protected when not in use.

However, I digress. There was another time I noticed some symptoms of over-training other than fatigue and malaise; or at least I call it over-training. Way back in the early eighties I was working near a Sports Connection in Santa Monica and I would alternate aerobics and resistance in the mornings. This was independent of riding the bike in the evenings, which I didn't think of as a workout - it was for burning off the brain-fog; that name being unknown to us, I thought of it as having my head stuffed with cotton wool, whatever that is. It's cotton and it's wool - what's up with that?

Anyway, I dreaded doing the weights but not so much the aerobics. I hated getting up "early" (I was just now thinking kids were soft then, but I was 37 - not possible - but true, do the math - aiiiiiiieeeeee!!!!) Sorry about that, it's not so bad I think of 37 as a kid now, but I thought of myself as a kid then - actually, I was, "the kid".

Anyway, again, aerobics was actually fun a lot of the time. It wasn't like the aerobics they do now. It was just pop / rock and roll music and you would do exercises in time, which was pretty cool when everybody was together and amped. And the yips and whatnot sounded real and spontaneous, not like in stupid infomercials. You can actually see an example in the exact same exercise room - this scene is from "Perfect", filmed at the Sports Connection during the time I was going there; John Travolta was friendly and disgustingly handsome, Jaimie Lee Curtis was not. Regarding the clip, I don't remember 'focus on the pelvis' and I never saw them locked together from across a crowded room, but hey, it's the same room how could I not put in the link. Also, the women instructors were much hotter. Take that unfriendly Jamie Lee Curtis from 24 years ago. (Me shaking fist in the manner of Craig Ferguson).

The one bad side-effect from aerobics I still have is "White Wedding" burned into my brain. Not that I have anything against Billy Idol except for how stupid I feel when I remember I liked some of his music. The eighties - no doubt many bear similar musical humiliations in secret.

Speaking of MTV - who remembers what a disappointment that was? I was expecting 'Rock Concert' or 'Midnight Special' 24 hours a day. Instead you got lip-synch in fake and/or burned-out and/or bombed-out and/or abandoned factories, sometimes with girls handling great big tools. No - real tools, like great big wrenches and whatnot. Of course there was "Dexy's Midnight Runners" running around the streets of London with Dexy(?) playing the fiddle, so that was kind of mediocre. But just a few days ago I discovered how much great concert footage there is on YouTube, so my life is finally complete. (I went looking for those "factory" videos and there was actually good stuff on MTV early on - how come I never saw it yet I remember these videos. Somebody's been tampering with history again.)

So back to aerobics - I started doing them twice a day because I wanted to get in that place where you just lose yourself to the music and endorphins (in my opinion - it's mildly controversial). After awhile the only time I didn't feel lethargic would be right after aerobics. I don't remember how long that went on, but obviously it's self-limiting. Poor nutrition would have been a contributing factor also.

The point is that exercise can be abused just like anything else. In my opinion it will be self-limiting for most people, but it is something to be aware of. If the only time you feel happy or in a good mood is when you're exercising or immediately after, you're probably over-training. In my opinion, you should definitely cut back and maybe look at your nutrition.

Weight training never affected me that way. I always dreaded it and was always glad when I was done. So glad that any affect from endorphins would have been masked by the relief that I was done for another day.

Eventually I moved southwards and the aerobics classes were like doing an extremely complex hokey-pokey to bad pop music and anyway there was no gym near where I worked, so that dwindled away. But the exercise bike went on day after day. That's not bragging, that's pointing out that the bike was important to me beyond any thoughts of physical fitness. It literally gave me my evenings back and by then it was the essential end to my commute.

What I hope you take away from this is that the results of exercise can be so enjoyable day-to-day that you actually have to restrain yourself from exercising too much sometimes.
Any advice given reflects the experiences of myself and acquaintances over the last 30 years to the best of my recollection and under no circumstances constitutes medical or professional advice. There is no guarantee of accuracy, completeness, or the approriateness of any information or advice on this site or any site linked to.