What Do You Do to Avoid Burnout?

Somewhere in the past two weeks, I've hit either a workout wall or some kind of mental burnout in swimming. After finally completing 2000 yards (I am a natural sprinter, so I STRUGGLED), I quickly went downhill, first hardly breaking 1200 yards, then 600 yards, and last week, I had to get out at 150 yards. I'm not sure if it's because I started cross training in kickboxing or whether my workouts now fall in between me teaching two to three swimming classes in a row, or what, but I just feel burnt out and unmotivated (and now that the high school swim team has started practicing at the same time I begin laps, I feel even less motivated! :( ) Any suggestions on keeping my spirits up and getting past this burn out wall? Stop pushing against the wall To prevent burn out I: train for meets occasionally skip practice change my racing goals & training approach from season to season take breaks get friends fired up for relay goals and work to hold up my end taper and prepare for meets If I feel burn out coming on I: take it easy have a life away from the pool (it's just swimming) think about why I'm feeling that way get extra sleep

I find the solution to burnout simple: variety is the spice of life. Change up your workout routine -- including new out of the pool experiences -- and change up the events you're training for when you're in the pool. I think too many masters swimmers get locked into a fixed mindset of what "their events" are and only train for those. The beauty of Masters is that you can train for whatever you feel like training for. So, you think you're a sprinter ... try training for a 4K open water swim ... try training for the 200 breaststroke. Mix it up. Have fun.

Variety is also important. I swim, run, gym and do yoga. I don't do all of them all of the time, but if I can't or don't want to do one, I can do the other. The variety also stops any one thing becoming too familiar, or boring. Bottom line - what's important is staying fit and healthy. What helps is working out regularly. Swimming fast is less important (if we're sensible) at masters level, but if you're reasonably fit you'll swim at least reasonably fast. Don't sweat over the details, and if swimming isn't working for you at a point in time, do something else... If I feel burn out coming on I: take it easy have a life away from the pool (it's just swimming) think about why I'm feeling that way get extra sleep Seems like great advice, the journey is long, swimiming isn't easy, and there is plenty of room to stop, start, and try other things along the way.

I find that my enthusiasm ebbs and flows. As a youth, it became a 20 hours a week 'occupation', but I think it's important to remember that swimming is a hobby. Here are some thoughts of mine. First, although I want to swim fast, I always keep in mind that swimming is something I fit into my life rather than something I fit my life around. That means that if I have a heavy week at work, family commitments, or if I have something more interested on I will let the swimming go a little. However, having not trained consistently for about 15 years or more, I make it important to work out every week - even if that's just once, and even if it's not in the pool. I find that my enthusiasm to compete is very limited. As a father of 2, with a demanding job, why would I spend the whole weekend sitting on a poolside? So, it's important to me to be selective about the meets that I do. I normally do 3-5 masters meets a year. I don't set too many goals. I know for many that would be counterintuitive, but when I compete I normally only have at best a 'ballpark' view of what's good and just enjoy the experience of trying to swim well. Funnily enough I've had less of a good year motivationally, and although that's in part due to illness (I suffer from ulcerative colitis, another thing I have to work around) I think it's also because I've started thinking about breaking records next year (when I'm 40). In the middle of this year I lost my enthusiasm completely. Goals can be helpful, but if I go back to my first point, as masters swimmers we're not always in control of our time, and therefore have to be careful about goals. Variety is also important. I swim, run, gym and do yoga. I don't do all of them all of the time, but if I can't or don't want to do one, I can do the other. The variety also stops any one thing becoming too familiar, or boring. Bottom line - what's important is staying fit and healthy. What helps is working out regularly. Swimming fast is less important (if we're sensible) at masters level, but if you're reasonably fit you'll swim at least reasonably fast. Don't sweat over the details, and if swimming isn't working for you at a point in time, do something else...

After suffering post-abusive-youth-program burnout for 33 years, when I came back to swimming I realized that avoiding burnout was my #1 priority. The first and only important goal on my New Year's resolutions is, #1. Keep it fun. Still be in swimming at the end of the year. Know thyself. "Keeping it fun" is all about doing what I think is fun, not what anybody else thinks is fun. I think training for meets and going to meets is fun, so I do a lot of that. Many people are motivated by the "Go the Distance" program, and I respect that, but it's not for me. I refuse to be yardage-driven. So I don't do it. Over the past couple of years, I've invented a bunch of sometimes-crazy, sometimes not-so-crazy projects for myself to sustain my interest. Yes, this is a sometimes-peculiar idea of "fun": Swim a 1650 free in competition Swim a 400 IM in competition Swim a 200 fly in competition Swim the 3000 yd. postal event Check-off challenge: Swim all events at least once in competition Swim at least one meet each SCY, LCM, and SCM each year Go to nationals! Swim 200 races in USMS meets before aging up Swim an 800 IM in practice Swim a 500 fly in competition (it was a senior olympics meet) Swim a 1000 fly in practice Swim a "Brute Squad" workout (400 IM, 200 fly, 1650 free) Swim a "Double Brute Squad" workout (800 IM, 400 fly, 3300 free) Swim an open water mile And I'm just getting started! There are lots of fun things to look forward to: I just discovered open water swimming this year, and I like it! There's obviously a lot of fun to be had in open water swimming. The Pan American Masters Championships are in Sarasota next June, I'd like to go! The FINA World Masters Championships are in Montreal in 2014, I am so there! My recipe for avoiding burnout is to actively, consciously, deliberately, purposefully, creatively make it fun. You get to decide for yourself what is fun and what isn't. Then do the fun stuff!

Know thyself. "Keeping it fun" is all about doing what I think is fun, not what anybody else thinks is fun. Over the past couple of years, I've invented a bunch of sometimes-crazy, sometimes not-so-crazy projects for myself to sustain my interest. Yes, this is a sometimes-peculiar idea of "fun": Yeah, I hear ya! That's why I decided to see how much fly I could swim non-stop :bliss: and ended up swimming 2,000 yards (but stopped when the memory card was full on the camera my husband was using to video me.) :rolleyes: Today's workout included "broken" IM's (800-600-400-200-100). I was training with my coach, but couldn't keep his intervals, so my 800, 600, and 400 were NOT broken, except in between each IM. It was fun! :D Your idea of "keeping it fun" is quite similar to mine. I have discovered a love for brute squad events and crazy meet line-ups, just to see how I do. I also thought it was fun racing a 3K, getting out of the water, then turning around and heading out with the 1K group a few minutes later. :banana: The only difference in our idea of "fun" is that I am obsessive with GTD; I love keeping track! I hit my goal for the year already, though (400 miles), so now I just want to see where I end up, without setting a new goal. :agree: Swimosaur, are you coming down to Georgia for the St. Nick's meet at Georgia Tech, on December 15? Steve, how about you? :cheerleader:

Elaine, Your awesome! I've added 800 IM's and 500 IM's to my workouts. I am contemplating a 1000 IM. Hmmmmmm. Its possible if I am already doing 800's and 500's. Thinking of doing the Turducken Swim Challenge for the day after Thanksgiving.

Swimosaur, are you coming down to Georgia for the St. Nick's meet at Georgia Tech, on December 15? ... :cheerleader: Yes! For sure: 400 IM & 400 free. I am still pondering other events. See you there! :cheerleader:

I've added 800 IM's and 500 IM's to my workouts. I am contemplating a 1000 IM ... Oh yeah, I forgot to add (the memory must be suppressed): Swim a 3000 IM in workout. As suggested by he-who-shall-not-be-named, who somehow dreamed up this ridiculous swim, which is still admittedly somewhat short of this one. Fun is where you find it, right? Egads.

Yeah, I hear ya! That's why I decided to see how much fly I could swim non-stop :bliss: and ended up swimming 2,000 yards (but stopped when the memory card was full on the camera my husband was using to video me.) :rolleyes: Elaine, did the card run out or did he :bed:.:D Happy thanksgiving. :turkey: