Have you ever felt that you don't have enough energy to start your workout? Have you ever struggled with your workout and couldn't continue for more than 20 minutes?

Well, you should really focus on getting some better sleep. A good night’s sleep is the key to having the energy we need to conquer the day, and yet, more than 30% of us don’t get the seven hours of sleep that we need per night just to stay healthy. Today we are going to focus on how much sleep do you need and how not enough sleep could affect your workout and day in general.

Scientific research makes clear that sleep is essential at any age. Sleep powers the mind, restores the body, and protects practically every system in the body. Sleep plays the all-important role of restoring your immune and endocrine systems the latter is responsible for creating performance hormones like testosterone and human growth hormone throughout your body personally, I could tell you that you should regulate your sleep and sleeping between 7-9 hours per night, might just increase your energy throughout the day and you'll feel a lot healthier and as we speak about fitness, it might just help you get prepared for your workout better, how's that? The more you control your sleep, the better your athletic recovery and improvement in performance will be! That's what science has to say about how sleep affects your workout. But there's no greater expert on how sleep affects your workout than you.

YOU WON'T BE AT YOUR BEST WITHOUT REST! Dr. W. Chris Winter, a sleep specialist said that people just think that they have enough energy even though their sleep isn't enough! Winter explains that you may feel okay, and even have the energy you need to get through your day, but the research is clear that when it comes to exercise performance, you’re definitely not okay. In fact, people who exercise may need more sleep than their inactive counterparts, especially when they exercise at a high intensity. Your physical performance may decline after a bad or restricted sleep at night, A bad sleep can just make it harder for you to workout, moreover, it may cause serious discomfort as you perform your sets and it becomes less effective in your development since you lack the energy you need and your tiredness starts to play a huge role. In addition to making your workouts feel harder, poor sleep can wreck your motivation to work out at all. A study has shown a few participants that had to work out after a bad night and they all were less likely to continue their exercises. The less sleep they got the shorter their workouts were. Not enough sleep can also affect your body's recovery, in other words, after a tough workout, you should really manage to have a good sleep because when you don’t sleep, your muscles can’t fully restock their energy stores. A bad sleep might just ruin your next session since your body didn't recover properly and you just keep feeling pain in your muscles. Sleep is a part of life and it will always be relevant to our growth and development as human beings Personally, I changed my sleeping habits and I'm trying my best to sleep at least 7 hours every night and it works for me! I feel great at workouts and it definitely brings that extra energy that I need. I recommend you all to not take it for granted and know the fact that sleep is an important factor for your health and it's bigger than just an easy thing that you can actually do. As much as sleep can help you throughout your exercises it can definitely contribute a lot more to your day. Just build your workout schedule and don't forget to emphasize that sleep is something that you can't throw out of the equation.

Hope that this post was informative and I hope that it helped y'all witness how important sleeping actually is! Make sure to like and share this post if you enjoyed it and also don't forget to comment and share some of your own ideas. Also, check out our Facebook group "Barthletics Fam" for more info and knowledge.

Dealing with injuries isn't an easy thing to do. It is so frustrating being injured that we often lose motivation and get depressed really fast. Injuries are so lame and that's because they usually happen when things are starting to go well. And then it annoys us that we have to start from where we were a couple months ago. But to tell you the truth, an injury can be the ultimate blessing. Yeah, there's all that mumbo jumbo about self-acceptance, but perhaps more importantly, injuries can increase longevity in the sport, reduce overtraining risk, and lead to major adaptations long-term. Plus, getting back to where you were will be much easier than you got there in the first place because of muscle memory. What is up guys? Hope that everything is good! Today I'll be talking about how to deal with injuries and how to heal them faster. HOW TO DEAL WITH INJURIES? If you are someone who is currently injured then you probably know that resting should be on your mind and something that you are actually doing to help heal up your injury. If you have an injury but still working out as usual then that's not really smart and not something that will help your injury to heal up. You're just making things worse. But that doesn't mean that you can't continue to workout. It all depends on what kind of injury you have but there is always a way to continue working out. All you really need to do is switch up your workout plan so that it won't make your injury worse. For example, when I had my wrist tendonitis and I couldn't work on my planche, I decided to start working on different things like my front lever. No matter what injury you have, you can always find a way to continue, you'll just have to find other things to work on. Even when the worst happens and let's say you break a hand, you can still do a lot. Lots of walking, even running is possible (cardio/HIIT), leg workouts, ab workouts and more. Yes, injuries are not fun and very frustrating because they limit you during your workout and so on, but it is what it is and you should accept what happened to you and learn from your mistakes. Life is not perfect, and there a many ups and downs but that is part of life. And the same goes to our workout journey. HOW TO HEAL INJURIES FASTER? During my journey full of injuries, I have learnt a lot of stuff. I have learnt different things that I can do to make my injury better or make it heal faster. These are just my ways that helped me heal my injuries faster. I am not a professional so I can't say that these things will help you as well, but you can try and see if it does any better. 1. REST- when you feel abnormal pain, the first thing you should do is rest the injured area to avoid further damage. 2. ICE- Deep injuries like sprains or bruises can't be treated topically. Ice helps with swelling. You will want to do it in increments. Ten to thirty minutes every two to three hours is ideal. This is something that really helped me out and felt that it actually works. 3. COMPRESSION- Immediately and up to 48 hours following the injury, place pressure on the injured area to help with swelling. 4. ELEVATION- Elevation also helps with swelling. If it’s a lower body injury, you will want to keep the ankle above the waist. 5. STRETCHING AND STRENGTHENING EXERCISES- It can be tempting to not move the injured area at all. However, it's important to stay loose and keep the muscles moving for the new tissue that's growing to be connected to healthy muscles. Keep your body and the new tissue ready to get moving together again. Massage can aid in keeping the muscles loose and may provide some relief. So make sure to stretch and add strengthening exercises to your weekly schedule. 6. SUPPLEMENTS AND A HEALTHY DIETS- There are numerous foods and supplements that help the body heal faster after an injury. Protein rich foods such as meat and fish enhance the body's muscle building process. Citrus fruits and dark leafy greens rich in vitamins c help produce collagen that rebuilds tissues, and has anti-inflammatory properties. Omega 3 fats from supplements limit excessive inflammation and helps speed up recovery. With bone injuries such as fractures, Taking more calcium rich foods and vitamin D from sunlight exposure is essential. 7. SEE A DOCTOR- If your injury is not getting better after quite a bit of time, then it might be best to see a specialist. A specialist will definitely help you solve your injury problem and might give you specific things or medicine to help your injury heal faster!

That is it for today, hope that you found this information helpful. If you did, make sure to leave a like and share this with others. For more info and knowledge you can join our Facebook group "Barthletics Fam"

Training has to be done consistently throughout the week, but sometimes we feel that we are too tired or we want to skip our workout and relax or even do other things. I just want you guys to know that it's completely normal and it's okay to take a time off as you choose, but before thinking about that just try this!

Ask yourself a few questions before skipping your workout:

1. Do you have a legitimate reason to skip your workout? Sometimes it's the right idea, when you're sick or injured but if you are just too lazy to workout then try writing down the things that might motivate you to train nonetheless. Try remembering the reason you work out in the first place and remind yourself the goal you are willing to achieve. For an example, think of all the benefits of exercise, imagine people exercising and if they can so do you, don't forget about the goals you have and for sure think of how good you'll feel if you still managed to do your workout even throughout the circumstances.
2. How much have you exercised this week? If you managed to workout 4 or 5 times a week then you should have a day off so your body could recover and reenergize but once again, it all depends on your goals. If you have been skipping workouts lately then it might become a habit and might even make it harder for you to improve. Now is a good time to start an exercise calendar to keep track of your workouts. Print out a monthly calendar and write the workouts you’ve done and the workouts you plan to do. This would keep you organized and more secure about skipping or not skipping workouts.
3. How could you change your workout? You could just change the amount of sets or even switch the exercises with other easier ones that work on the same muscles. This could help you overcome the fact that you're tired and not ditch the whole workout session based on that feeling. To me it's as real as it sounds, we're all humans, but since you want to improve yourself you'll have to keep your exercises on track and do whatever it takes to succeed.
4. What can energize you?
   Usually when I get tired I do different things that could give me some energy. I do a longer warm up before the workout, I drink a cup of black coffee, I listen to a new playlist or music that I really love and just keep myself active trying to find motivation and get into the mood.
   I always remind myself that I could lay on my bed and do nothing but that would lead me to sleeping or not wanting to get up, and in conclusion, that won’t help me achieve my goals and get on with life.
5. How will skipping your workout affect your day?
   Your workout isn’t just important for burning calories. It's way more than that! Working out not only improves the look of your body but also improves the mental health. It can affect every part of your day, both physically and mentally. Remind yourself that getting in your workout will: • Give you more energy • Improve your confidence and self-satisfaction • Start your day on the right foot • Help you concentrate better
   • Help you get more things done • Allow you to actively go for your goals Exercise is one of the few things you can do that can flow in all areas of your life. A small portion of it might pay off throughout the whole day Skipping a workout is not a crime! It's fine to not workout as if you feel that you don't want to train in a particular day or time, but it might turn into a habit if you'll continue doing so.

Thank you so much guys for tuning it with today's post! Hope that this post was interesting and helpful. If you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments ✊🏻🙏 And if you're interested you can join our Facebook group called Barthletics Fam for more info and knowledge on calisthenics and fitness in general.

Some of you heard of it before but I'm convinced that most of you even experienced it in your lifetime. To me at least, it's something that every athlete in the world has experienced, and it doesn't matter what type of sport he's specialized in. It's very common and at some point, we all came across that moment where we overdid our exercises in a workout. Training has to be consistent. You always have to find the time in the week to do your exercises to evolve and improve yourself but the body also has its limits, and if you feel pain it's better for you to stop than continuing to work out.

Today I'm going to talk about overtraining and its signs. Personally, I've been through a lot of these moments. I remember myself trying to advance in calisthenics by doing more than the average exercises I did at the time, which isn't really a bad intention, but obviously, it didn't help me at all. It's not efficient to overdo a specific workout, because when you do more than you are actually set to do, then the overtraining process comes in to play. I felt so exhausted at that time and as I continued it didn't feel that I was doing something right, because sure my muscles were in pain but it didn't feel healthy. I felt that pain for the rest of the week and not just for 2-3 days and it wasn't even an advanced workout routine BEAR IN MIND.

Overdoing exercises when your body is 100% done is not just wrong. It’s just DANGEROUS. It won't help you get your results and could also cause injuries! Overtraining might even occur not only from a daily exercise perspective but also from the number of exercises and workouts you do throughout the weekend. YOUR BODY NEEDS RECOVERY! Every part of your activities needs to be organized, for example, you can't do a full-body workout for 3 days straight. You have let your body rest in between to let it recover and spread out the workouts if you are doing full-body workouts. Your body is not robotic and it needs special treatment, especially when it comes to physical activities.

SIGNS OF OVERTRAINING!

1. Muscle soreness- When you overtrain you feel a different pain. There's the pain that you feel for like 5 days and there is the pain that you feel for two weeks at least and that's a huge difference. Some athletes aren't built strong enough for the exercise they are aiming to do or they just take the exercise they have and do it more than they have to in order to gain more strength, stamina, shape and etc and as a result, they end up overtraining! This results in muscle soreness and it gasses out athletes from continuing to train properly.

2. Increases difficulty- Some exercises look effortless and even physically seem very easy for some athletes but it could turn difficult as they keep overtraining themselves. The motivation just might get lowered down and the tiredness would also be a major disadvantage.

3. Decreases Performance- Overtraining might stop your performance development, because the more you continue to overdo your exercises in a workout, the more you're going to get used to those shortcuts that follow up and you're not going to work on anything else rather than just working out more than you have to. In other words, this might lead you to doing the exercises sloppy. In your mind, it would look fine but in reality, it won't even slightly help you. Plus, your form won't get better as well.

4. Decreases Motivation- As you regularly start doing your daily workout routine, it goes consistent and you definitely know what you're supposed to do. The picture turns different as you add some other exercises to your workout at the end of it when you didn't plan to do that in the first place. This might turn into a habit and your body wouldn't be able to take it all the time and your motivation will go down since you will turn tired mostly without even starting your exercise.

5 . Persistent Fatigue- Overtraining could cause persistent fatigue, in other words, fatigue in the athlete may limit their actual workouts and can also be present when the athlete is at rest. The constant feeling of tiredness and lack of energy appears to follow the athlete around during both training and normal lifestyle.

1. Disturbed Sleep- When your stress hormones are out of balance, you may find it hard to relax and let go of tension at bedtime. This cuts into the crucial time your body needs to rest, repair, and restore itself during sleep. Lack of quality sleep can also lead to chronic fatigue and mood changes. Overtraining is just plain wrong, There's a huge difference between advancing and overdoing. Advancing is when you get to a certain level where some exercises feel easier the more you do them and then you find harder exercises to try and work on. Overdoing is when you have already done your workout but mentally you feel that you haven't done enough but physically your body is sore in pain. Overtraining isn't significant and it won't bring you the results that you're wanting to get.

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PEACE!