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Kettlebell Returning to training after frying Endocrine System *sissy move*

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Greetings girevichkas & gireviks!

In early July of 2020, I'm embarrassed to say I fried my endocrine/nervous system following the fads of too much fasted HIIT training with moderate to heavy kettlebells. Quarantine, YouTube & Instagram "fitness gurus"/"biohackers", and my own ignorance caught up to me and I learned a lesson I wish on no one. (All this prior to finding Pavel's work/Strong First).

Everything was fine until one day, my body had nothing left to control hormones, heart, daily function, etc. I couldn't stand up long enough to cook meals much less use the bathroom without feeling like I was going to collapse or have a heart attack. My head felt as if I was knocked out by a heavyweight boxer every day - very concussion-like - for months. I couldn't think, I couldn't speak, I couldn't rest ( mad insomnia). The slightest bit of exertion sent me over the edge. I was scared and it's the closest I've ever felt to near death. The toughest part is there's not alot of solid information out there about this. My bloodwork was fine and my EKG came back fine - my doctor didn't really know what to make of it other than "exercising too much". I had no access to the Sports Medicine doctors that may see this stuff happen in athletics because of early covid scare, etc. I was lost.

Now, 7 months later, I am back to my normal self. In Oct, I was able to go for walks again. Then in November, I bought a paddleboard (low impact) and went out on the lake a few times a week. In December, I started back with minimal bodyweight/band training. It's now mid January, and I have found/purchased the Simple & Sinister book. I don't want to nor plan on ever training so stupidly again, so my question after all this is:

Does anyone have any experience with this type of situation or know someone who has? How to returning to training after frying your endocrine/nervous system. I am quite nervous to start throwing weight around again. I wish I had more information on it so I could make proper choices. I'd be so grateful for any info, advice, direction, or resources anyone can give.

Best in Health,
Kyle the Sissy
 
What did you exactly do to "fry" your endocrine/nervous system and how do you know that you did that? any studies?....didn't know it was even possible!
 
Everything was fine until one day, my body had nothing left to control hormones, heart, daily function, etc. I couldn't stand up long enough to cook meals much less use the bathroom without feeling like I was going to collapse or have a heart attack
Were you tested for Covid-19 when it all started? Your symptoms sound similar to those of some athlete I have read about (IIRC, for example, from the Canadian rowing team).

Anyway, welcome, and good call reaching out for this community!

First of all, S&S is great. Don't rush it. It is a WOD - a Workout of the Decade :D

Second, this article comes to mind:

Third, go slow if you are anxious about overdoing it. Consistency trumps intensity.

Fourth, consider adding Original Strength resets by Tim Anderson. They are great for the nervous system. The resets are basic developmental moves, that have helped you to get strong in the first place. There are lots of rehab success stories about Original Strength.

Good luck!
 
Greetings girevichkas & gireviks!

I couldn't speak

I've hit bad adrenal fatigue a few times, many years ago when training too hard for competition, and certainly had insomnia, increasing RHR, and other under-recovery / over-training issues.

But completely losing the ability to speak??

Nah....
 
Greetings girevichkas & gireviks!

In early July of 2020, I'm embarrassed to say I fried my endocrine/nervous system following the fads of too much fasted HIIT training with moderate to heavy kettlebells. Quarantine, YouTube & Instagram "fitness gurus"/"biohackers", and my own ignorance caught up to me and I learned a lesson I wish on no one. (All this prior to finding Pavel's work/Strong First).

Everything was fine until one day, my body had nothing left to control hormones, heart, daily function, etc. I couldn't stand up long enough to cook meals much less use the bathroom without feeling like I was going to collapse or have a heart attack. My head felt as if I was knocked out by a heavyweight boxer every day - very concussion-like - for months. I couldn't think, I couldn't speak, I couldn't rest ( mad insomnia). The slightest bit of exertion sent me over the edge. I was scared and it's the closest I've ever felt to near death. The toughest part is there's not alot of solid information out there about this. My bloodwork was fine and my EKG came back fine - my doctor didn't really know what to make of it other than "exercising too much". I had no access to the Sports Medicine doctors that may see this stuff happen in athletics because of early covid scare, etc. I was lost.

Now, 7 months later, I am back to my normal self. In Oct, I was able to go for walks again. Then in November, I bought a paddleboard (low impact) and went out on the lake a few times a week. In December, I started back with minimal bodyweight/band training. It's now mid January, and I have found/purchased the Simple & Sinister book. I don't want to nor plan on ever training so stupidly again, so my question after all this is:

Does anyone have any experience with this type of situation or know someone who has? How to returning to training after frying your endocrine/nervous system. I am quite nervous to start throwing weight around again. I wish I had more information on it so I could make proper choices. I'd be so grateful for any info, advice, direction, or resources anyone can give.

Best in Health,
Kyle the Sissy
I have a tendency to overtrain. From one of Maffetone's books, I came across the concept of heart rate variability. It basically measures recovery. He mentions an app called ithlete which is used with a chest strap. You take a reading in the morning and if you get a green light (nicely recovered), you carry on with your program. If you get an orange, you might want to take it easier eg LSD instead of repeats. Red means rest or walk or yoga.

In S&S, Pavel says something like" train near daily except when your body demands rest". That's a bit subjective for me, and I'd end up over training. So I've been using HRV for 3 months now and I'm loving it.
Feel like I have a much better handle on how much volume I can do in a day and be able to train again next day.
Amazingly, the progression programmed into s&s is about perfect according to my HRV experience.
 
In early July of 2020, I'm embarrassed to say I fried my endocrine/nervous system following the fads of too much fasted HIIT training with moderate to heavy kettlebells. Quarantine, YouTube & Instagram "fitness gurus"/"biohackers", and my own ignorance caught up to me and I learned a lesson I wish on no one. (All this prior to finding Pavel's work/Strong First).
I would like to hear more of the events leading up to the crash.
Very readable writing style.
 
Yoga
Pranayama
Qigong
Meditation

I’ve cooked myself a few times, and needed to rebuild from zero. The good news is rebuilding what you once had is much easier than forging new fitness. Most recently I was down for a couple weeks with an infection in March which could have been covid. It took a couple months, but then I was back at it. I started with qigong, then added yoga. Then I started back with Easy Strength and rucking. Then ran Fabio Zonin’s Simple Strength for Difficult Times twice over the summer.

The benefits of internal practices like qigong and yoga on the nervous and endocrine systems are well documented.
 
I have a tendency to overtrain. From one of Maffetone's books, I came across the concept of heart rate variability. It basically measures recovery. He mentions an app called ithlete which is used with a chest strap. You take a reading in the morning and if you get a green light (nicely recovered), you carry on with your program. If you get an orange, you might want to take it easier eg LSD instead of repeats. Red means rest or walk or yoga.
Thanks for this! I am currently using a Whoop band, but this one sounds like a good and affordable alternative for one of the features :)
 
Thanks for this! I am currently using a Whoop band, but this one sounds like a good and affordable alternative for one of the features :)
Yes, I tried whoop too. But the 24x7 thing was too invasive for me. Also, their measure of stress under counts for anyone that lifts as they assume all exercise is aerobic.
 
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