To snack or not to snack

Snacking, some experts think we should, others say not to. As with so many things in life, one size does not fit all.

Ultimately, it’s food in versus energy used. The ideal is a perfect balance of the two, altered only to help you lose/gain weight/muscle. The real question is – what snack to have and when. Snacks are quite often the downfall of an otherwise healthy eating day – preparation is key – if you have healthy snacks on hand then should hunger strike you can have a healthy option before you get to the ravenous stage and eat everything in sight.

The chances are, if you plan to snack, you won’t want it anyway, that’s ok too. It’s all about what’s right for you – there is no wrong answer.

Overtraining

If you’ve been training hard for any length of time, you would expect to have seen progress, which is motivating and encourages you to keep going.

The problems can start when you no longer see the results you expect, even after increasing the reps/volume. This could be one of the signs of reaching a plateau, but it could be you’re overtraining. Are you getting injured? Picking up every bug? Feeling irritated, de-motivated? These could all be signs you need a break.

Having a rest week won’t scupper your long term results any more than it will take away from all the hard work you put in to get to this point. Enjoy the break and use it to plan a comeback that won’t cause you to overtrain.

Seek professional advice if you’re unsure what to do, someone else looking at your training  plan might help you make changes that will see you get better results.