dream | act | succeed

What the hell is a weekend warrior? Having heard about that therm years ago in the world of cycling for the first time, I find myself in a very similar situation these days. So what does it mean?

It basically means, that you do not work on something every single day, but rather just on the weekends. Just imagine a 40 year old triathlete and family dad with a regular 9-5 job. He doesn’t have much time during the workweek for his training, therefore he focuses on his work and his family during the week, and shoots out the ultra hard and long workout sessions on the weekends.

I am currently in a very similar situation. I work on my projects relentlessly all week, in order to have one or two days off at the weekend to burst out my racing practice. Is that a healthy approach towards things? I am not so sure about that, but it is the only option I currently have. Having my racing simulator and workout room at home, there is not much I can do during the week here at the dorm. I mean, of course I have some workout equipment here as well, but it is just not the same.

What is the bad thing about that, your are asking? It’s the high density of workout sessions, the high stress, mentally and physically, as well as the continues stepping over the limit. My weekend days are packed with simulator and workout sessions. In between of just eating and trying to rest a little bit. But is that very effective? Of course not! After the fifth or so hour on the simulator, you are just not that fresh anymore, your muscles feel tired and you actually don’t want to go on anymore. Well, of course that is a great practice for endurance racing, but you do not normally schedule workout sessions in between your driving stints, right? These days, it is pretty cold outside, well, having not adjusted to that situation properly, I started to feel sick since Sunday evening. Where does that come from? Properly from overdoing it. Getting too exhausted, that’s always a struggle for your immune system. Well, no pain, no gain, right? But what does it matter if I will be sick for a week or two. That time will be lost.

What can I do to improve upon the situation?

Of course there are some options.

• While giving up, or doing less is not an option for me, I can try to do most of my workouts during the week. Who thinks that you always need a gym for doing sports? There are enough things you can do even without those fancy pieces of machinery you are using all the time.
• Another point is of course to work smarter, not harder. People seem to think too much in hours, instead of in productivity. For them, a 10 hour work day is harder than a 4 hour work day, well, I am sure Tim Ferriss can tell you a whole lot more about that, but just notice, that time doesn’t matter. It’s the way you spend the time, that is important. You can waste 10 hours, or even 1000 hours with something, but if your training is not effective, you do not challenge your doing and you do not work on your practice methods and techniques, this can all be done in half the time. No doubt about that. Therefore, I need to rethink my practice sessions, over and over again, until finally, I will find a training practice that is highly time efficient, but still very effective. But of course, the perfect combination will never be found, it is always a matter of compromising the one thing for the other.
• Listen to your own body. If you do not feel well, what the fuck are you doing in the gym? There are other exercises you can do, maybe just doing some stretching or balancing? I work on that for years, and it helps a lot to stay healthy, even during critical times of the year.

In conclusion I need to say, that it is always hard to find the right moment to stop. But there comes a time during these weekend sessions, where I can not stop anymore and overdo it miserably. This can be considered as work in progress.

See you next time!