How do you handle burn out?

[Wing Woo Gar]

If you are a true Martial Artist You will find that you will continue training even when you are doing something else, and if you don't , then you were not a MA to begin with, and should move on.

What a strange post. Such sweeping generalizations come across as both ignorant and rude. Perhaps, if that is all you have to add to the discussion, you should move on.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

But are you a True Scotsman??

Ooh! Me! I’m 49 % Scottish according to 23 and me can I join in or should I just move on?

 

[ChenAn]

If you experience a learning plato basically it's your teacher responsibility (if he/she care) to change emphasis in your training and adjust accordingly. Traditional way of training in Chinese culture is not always easy or rewarding - a lot politics and indoctrinations.

 

[Damien]

I've seen many people leave martial arts over the years. After 6 months, a year, 3 years, 10. Some of it is burnout, some of it is losing interest. People change interests change, martial arts might just not be where you want to spend your energy any more.

That being said I think there are two things you can do to avoid burnout:
1) Do something different, new and take a break. All of these are related, but having some time off to relax (and of course having rest incorporated into your training to avoid physical burnout), having fun, approaching things from a different perspective are all useful ways to revitalise yourself
2) Avoid plateaus. I've managed to stick with my training, but for years I didn't improve much. I learnt some new stuff, but my basics didn't really improve, my conditioning didn't improve. I plateaud. At one point I was even tempted to pack it in seeing peers that were better than me. I got myself out of the slump, realising that I needed to change what I was doing. These days I try to structure my training to avoid the plateau. How? Don't do the same thing or same amount of each thing every time, don't chase learning new things before you've solidified existing learning and cross train to improve aspects of your practice that are better improved outside of your main one. Even simply doign weights to build strength endurance for training harder for longer.

 

[windwalker099]

Noted teachers have gone through this

Ben Lo....

For the first four years of training, I improved rapidly. But after five years, I began to feel frustrated and I thought about quitting.
l'd reached a plateau and didn't feel that I was improving.
Later, I also felt like quitting after fifteen years and after twenty-six years of practice.

Each time classmates would push with me and encourage me.
This helped me to maintain my practice. Also, I learned to compare my practice with myself and not with others

For instance, I believed
that it was a good achievement if last year I caught a cold, but this year I didn't catch one. Throughout this time, I studied only with Prof. Zheng. I have never been able to master everything he taught to me, so it never seemed sensible to me to study other martial arts or with other teachers.

 

[Ivan]

I am new to this message site, and have noticed that there are many people with vast years of experience, so with that being said, how do you handle burn out, or slumps in your training? Do you go on to something else, or work through it?

I would say it depends on your goals and what is causing your burnout. For me, it is rare to experience burnout as I am always excited to train, and even though I train for around 20 hours weekly, it is the only thing in my life I enjoy.

I would say it is more about perspective and mindset. If you are speaking about physical burnout where your body needs a break due to overuse or injury, that is another matter. It is something I am dealing with currently, but time comes and goes. But usually, the mind gives up before the body. That's why people can only hold a 3-minute plank, although our bodies have the strength to lift entire cars during specific situations.

If what you are doing really matters to you, there are different avenues you can take. I rarely take a break - sometimes, however, it is beneficial to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. If you train for competition and fights, it might be hard to do so, but when I find myself getting overly frustrated, I like to meditate and ensure I realign my mindset. Ensure that the "I have to go training tonight" shifts into "I get to go to training tonight". The "I am not seeing improvements" becomes "I improve by just 1% daily, so improvements are hard to notice".

Furthermore, there is also the Reminiscence effect. This can seem counter-intuitive but has a solid scientific grounding. This effect is the effect where your skills can improve after a layoff. And this doesn't just apply to skill, but to physical attributes too. Soviet researchers found that many of their weightlifters became stronger, and more technical with their lifts after a 1-2 week break. If you become frustrated, take a step back and inquire whether your mindset is the one you need, and what you can do to change it. After you do so, return within a week and push forward.

 

[Darren]

I train alone don’t really want to but it is what it is!! Take care of a 24/7 special needs son all the work that goes into taking care of him. At times I will take a week off from training and jump back in the next week it is a journey so just lay back and enjoy the trip!!!!!!

 

[Oily Dragon]

I would say it depends on your goals and what is causing your burnout. For me, it is rare to experience burnout as I am always excited to train, and even though I train for around 20 hours weekly, it is the only thing in my life I enjoy.

I would say it is more about perspective and mindset. If you are speaking about physical burnout where your body needs a break due to overuse or injury, that is another matter. It is something I am dealing with currently, but time comes and goes. But usually, the mind gives up before the body. That's why people can only hold a 3-minute plank, although our bodies have the strength to lift entire cars during specific situations.

If what you are doing really matters to you, there are different avenues you can take. I rarely take a break - sometimes, however, it is beneficial to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. If you train for competition and fights, it might be hard to do so, but when I find myself getting overly frustrated, I like to meditate and ensure I realign my mindset. Ensure that the "I have to go training tonight" shifts into "I get to go to training tonight". The "I am not seeing improvements" becomes "I improve by just 1% daily, so improvements are hard to notice".

Furthermore, there is also the Reminiscence effect. This can seem counter-intuitive but has a solid scientific grounding. This effect is the effect where your skills can improve after a layoff. And this doesn't just apply to skill, but to physical attributes too. Soviet researchers found that many of their weightlifters became stronger, and more technical with their lifts after a 1-2 week break. If you become frustrated, take a step back and inquire whether your mindset is the one you need, and what you can do to change it. After you do so, return within a week and push forward.

That 1-2 week break thing is real. I've done that, trained really hard for a long time and then suddenly life intrudes, I beat myself up for not training, yet somehow my body fat goes down and SMM goes up.

I consume a lot of peanut butter during these breaks, so maybe it's just the protein+recovery cycle. Rest is important for growth.