This is part 2 in a 2 part series about the keys to health that aren’t getting exercise. Part 1 was about the importance of diet, and that results in weight loss and health rely more heavily on what you eat than on what you lift. Although both are important to an overall healthy life.
A large portion to winning at life, comes from the silent killer, something that in recent weeks I have learned the importance of as I have spent the last 3 days bed ridden as my lack of sleep and overworking myself caught up with me and floored me. That’s right, if you didn’t figure it out the last piece of the puzzle is the easiest thing in the world to do, just STFU lay down and close your eyes: SLEEP.
I eat well, I train hard, and yet what should be the simplest piece of the puzzle is the one that eludes me most. Though you may not notice it immediately, it will catch up with you. In the past few weeks I have started coaching at Hybrid Athletics in Langley, it’s one of the top facilities in Canada (if not the top) with 2 top notch coaches and athletes running it so it was impossible for me to say no to an opportunity to train with and coach under these guys. Combine that with working 3 days a week for my dads company (gotta make that $) 1 day a week coaching at CrossFit BC, 1 day a week finishing off odd jobs from this website (aka home solutions) and trying to compete in the CrossFit Open and you’ve got a candle that’s being burned on more ends than it has. This is what my life schedule looked like for the past 3-4 weeks…
Monday:
4:30am wakeup and drive to Langley for 6am Class.
Coach and train at Hybrid until 7:30pm.
Hit the pool at 8:00pm and swim until 10pm then sleep at one of the coaches houses in Langley.
Tuesday:
6am Class
Coach and train until 7:30pm
Drive back to vancouver for about 9pm… make lunches for next 3 days.
Wed – Thurs – Fri
7:30am – 4pm in West Vancouver working for Ocean West Construction
Training after work the days I had the energy too, usually just hitting the pool to swim lengths or judging and scoring for people doing CrossFit Open workouts.
Saturday:
Try to get work done in the am for Home Solutions
2:00pm Hit the CrossFit Open WOD at CrossFit BC west Van Location
Sunday:
Try and sleep in… and prep meals for 2 days in Langley
Redo or First time CrossFit Open wod at 1:00pm
Coach 2:00pm
Finish cooking and meal prep for mon/tues.
Not a whole lot of time in there for sleep… but you know what, I was doing what I loved (Coaching/CrossFit mostly) so it was worth it… My training and performance took a huge hit, I’m sitting 62nd in a competition I should comfortably be 25th or better in, and the final straw collapsed and I’ve been bed ridden for the last 2 days. I slept 20/24 hours of the day on thursday and my throat is infected with something unpleasant. Open Wod 12.4 is going to be ugly…
Listen to me and LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES. What’s the lesson here?
Although I was working some ridiculous hours I was still eating well and training as hard as I had energy for, so what was missing? Sleep. One piece of the triangle gone and the whole thing falls to shit… if either of the other 2 were missing I would probably have been fine.
Sleep + Training – Diet = Solid performance, Possibly healthy (depending how – diet is)
Sleep + Diet – Training = Potential 6 pack, mediocre to no performance (but still good health)
everything – sleep = Possible strep throat, performance drop, life fail…
