After over a year of absence from aerial due to an injury, I am ready to get back to it. Before I get back in the air, however, I need to rebuild my upper body strength. I want to be confident in my ability to complete weight-bearing exercises.
Since the muscle I injured was a support muscle, I need to be sure I'm not going to injure myself further. The only way to do that is to start from square one and make sure I pay attention to what my body is telling me.
That said, I've worked out every day from Sunday through Thursday. I've been pushing myself too hard. The last couple of days, I've been exhausted in the morning after a vigorous workout the previous evening. I decided to do some research into post-workout exhaustion, and found some articles about adrenal fatigue.
The adrenal gland is responsible for cortisol production. Cortisol is released in times of stress, be it mental or physical. While exercise strengthens the adrenal gland, over-exercising will deplete your cortisol levels. This is more likely when you are not taking rest days to let your body recover.
In my case, this is what I've been doing. I push myself hard all week, but then I crash on Friday and Saturday. I'm really going to have to take rest days during the week instead of taking my rest days on the weekend. My body isn't prepared for the demands of every day training.
I'm going to take Friday and Saturday to rest and recoup, and I'm going to build a new weekly menu for myself, including morning omelets and smoothies. I'm going to continue drinking plenty of water and getting plenty of rest, and then I'm going to plan out my workouts for the next four weeks with a rest day every two days. I may even move my workouts to the morning since I'm getting home so late in the evening. That way, I can eat dinner before 8pm.
http://www.adrenalfatigue.org/what-is-adrenal-fatigue
https://experiencelife.com/article/fending-off-adrenal-fatigue/
http://adrenalfatiguesolution.com/
http://adrenalfatiguesolution.com/adrenal-fatigue-diet/
