Do you ever feel after cruising social media that everyone is working out more than you are? It seems to me that the saying "pictures or it didn't happen" is now being applied to individuals workouts. Scrolling through FB or Instagram, you'll be bombarded with individuals flex fridays, or daily workout routine, once, twice or even three different workouts in one day. It's enough to make you feel like your own workout routine is subpar or that you're not doing enough, right? Finding the right balance of workouts and rest is based on your training history and how your body handles it. If you're new to exercise, you're probably going to be sore for a lot longer than someone who's been training for a long time.

What we want to avoid is over training syndrome, this can have serious side affects on your body:
-Depression
-Anxiety
-Weight gain/weight loss
-Muscle wasting (Loss of muscle)
-Longer lasting soreness
-Fatigue/trouble sleeping
All of this sounds like stuff we want to avoid, right? These conditions and symptoms are the things we try to avoid by working out, but pushing yourself too hard can cause them. Exercise and working out is good for you, but it's about finding the balance that works for you.
1. Set goals based on strength, performance, endurance, etc not based on appearance

2. Take adequate rest days, if you're feeling too stiff go for a walk, foam roll, do gentle yoga instead of a strenuous workout if you want to still be active.

3. Work different muscle groups if you're doing consecutive days, back one day, legs the next etc. Train smart!

4. Don't compare yourself to others! What works for their bodies might not work for yours, there are some people who can work out a lot and feel really good, and for others 3x a week weight training is more than enough for their body. 

5. Listen to your body, being overly fatigued is your body telling you to slow down, take a rest. There is legit nothing wrong with taking a day off from the gym. If you have anxiety around not training everyday, you might want to re-asses how healthy your relationship with exercise is.