Feeling Tired All the Time?

by Lee
(UK)

Feeling tired all the time? Do your workouts make you feel you've been run over by a 15 ton Mack dumpster? Welcome to ROBAT - a training terror that stalks you as surely as Spielberg's mysterious tanker truck.

So what is ROBAT and why should you be afraid of it?

Doug McGuff is the author of Body by Science and writes about this training phenomena, employing the wonderfully descriptive acronym ROBAT which stands for "Run Over By A Truck".

Do these symptoms sound familiar to you?

• TirednessSorenessIrritability
• Lethargy
• Moodiness

Then more likely than not, you are suffering from the ROBAT fatigue effects of a high intensity workout.

Roadblock to Recovery

So what happened to cause these run-down feelings?

Simply put, following tough training it is quite common to experience intense aches and pains akin to being run over by a 30,000 pounds lorry. Entirely normal, this sensation typically persists for a few days while your body begins the critical business of repair and recuperation.

What you must NOT do is hurry back into the gym to train again. Why?

You are not yet ready. First, your body requires several days to start the adaptive response and replenish its reserves, thereby avoiding overtraining and the roadblock to recovery.

Rest. Stay out of the gym. Once this has occurred, the ROBAT feelings speed away leaving you ready to resume your training duel.


Photo by Tim Inman