Training: How much is enough?

Hercules, Hercules!
Before I ran my first obstacle course or did my first CrossFit class I thought that training 5 days a week was a Herculean effort on my part, and so did everyone I know. Whenever my training regime came up in conversation with friends or work colleagues the athletically disinclined among them would say "I don't know how you do it!" or  "I wish I had your motivation", and for a while I hurt, everything hurt, but my body adapted.

Time to train

The perspective on training changes however, once you start talking with other athletes. An athlete understands that in order to perform well you have to train, generally the more you train, the better you perform. If you practice your chosen sport or activity over and over and over again, you will get better at it. So I trained 6 or sometimes 7 days a week, 30 - 45 minutes each day doing weights, cardio or a combination of the two. Other days I ran as far as I could in the 45 minutes I had in the mornings before I had to get ready to take my daughter to childcare, then head off to work myself. I kept running, kept doing weights and I performed better, running further, suffering less afterwards, I just got better overall. Sure I hurt for a while with the increase in training, but again my body adapted.

10km run

After talking with my CrossFit instructor (Chris from CrossFitCBD) recently I decided to step the training up again. 5 - 6 days a week - 2 workouts a day totalling between 1 and 1^1/2  hours a day. For 3 or 4 of those days I split the workouts into roughly 20 minute blocks:

• High intensity CrossFit style workout
• Traditional strength based weight training
• Running with high intensity sprint splits

I usually do the CrossFit and strength training back to back early in the morning and get a run in during my lunch break. The other 2 days are distance days, usually around 10km depending on the length of the next event I want to compete in.

Oh how we change

5.20am is lifting time

In the early days when my body hurt I would try and push through it, making my body do what I wanted through sheer force of will. I think you need that willpower and determination just to get the ball rolling, just to get out of bed at 5 in the morning and put your shoes on and get into the gym. Getting started was always the hardest part. Eventually even that changed, now I have trouble sleeping past 5.30am (even on a Sunday), and I tend to get a little irritated when I haven't done a workout - even on my rest days. I find now that I have to "listen" to my body, and through experience I have learnt the difference between the ache after a good workout and the pain that tells me I need to give certain body parts some time to repair. Sometimes listening to my body, rather than telling it what to do can be frustrating and I feel like a hippie thinking it, let alone saying it out loud.

So how much training is enough? Honestly I have no idea; it seems that there is no real limit. I occasionally read stories about professional athletes who train 6+ hours a day and I turn just a tiny shade of green with envy. Training like a professional athlete sounds very rewarding, but has to take quite a toll on your body. These athletes and their coaches must have their work cut out for them just trying to prevent injuries from over training let alone the unavoidable injuries cause by accidents. I often wonder if my body could handle that level of punishment. Thus far I have been very lucky, whenever I push harder after a short time my body just adapts and then performs as desired.

Optimism
I genuinely wonder how far I can push my body. Can I reach the goals I am now setting myself? Can I run a 45 minute 10km? Can I learn to do unassisted handstand push ups? Can I do gymnastic ring muscle ups?

I would like to think so, but I suspect it is going to take some time, and a whole lot of sweat.