How to Know If You’re Doing Too Much—or Not Enough
There’s a fine line between building capacity and burning out.
Cross it, and your body will let you know.
But how do you find the sweet spot?
Not the go-hard-or-go-home model.
Not the barely-do-enough-to-feel-virtuous plan either.
What you need is a system for self-regulation.
Because performance over decades—not weeks—requires you to master the art of calibration.
The Performance Trap: More ≠ Better
We’re conditioned to believe that:
If we’re tired, we need to push harder.
If we’re not sore, it didn’t work.
If we’re not progressing, we’re slacking.
But here’s what we see over and over:
Most people aren’t undertrained.
They’re under-recovered.
The cost shows up as:
Aches that don’t go away
Flat energy despite “eating clean”
Training plateaus that drag for months
Resentment toward the process
Signs You’re Doing Too Much
Let’s keep this simple. If you check 3 or more of these on most days, it’s time to scale.
You wake up groggy, even after 7+ hours of sleep
HRV is trending down, or RHR is trending up
You need caffeine just to get through a warm-up
Your lifts feel heavier than they should
You have to psych yourself up just to train
Joint stiffness lasts longer than 24 hours
You feel wired but tired in the evenings
Bottom line: The nervous system is maxed out—even if your muscles aren’t.
Signs You’re Not Doing Enough
On the flip side, under-loading is a sneaky longevity killer.
Here’s what that can look like:
Your workouts never challenge you (or you’re never sore)
You’ve used the same weights for 6+ months
Your balance, strength, or stamina has slowly declined
You’re stiff because you’re sedentary
You have more aches from inactivity than training
You’re losing muscle mass or grip strength over time
Remember: Ageing well requires loading the system—not just protecting it.
The Coaching Concept: Energy Matching
This is one of the core tools we use inside the Optimise Method™.
“Instead of following a rigid program, we teach clients to match the intensity of the session to their capacity on that day.”
How?
Use these 3 signals:
Physical: HRV, sleep score, soreness, tension
Cognitive: Focus, clarity, decision fatigue
Emotional: Motivation, confidence, stress response
High across all three? Green light. Train hard.
One or more lagging? Stay in the yellow zone. Train, but adjust.
Flatline across the board? That’s a red day. Recovery work or complete rest.
What Does Auto-Regulation Look Like in Practice?
Instead of fixed reps/sets for the week, try:
RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion): Aim for 7–8 on harder sets, but only if quality stays high
Rep Ranges with Float Room: 6–10 reps instead of fixed 8
Rest-Based Intervals: Go hard, then rest as needed until quality returns
Weekly Undulation: Plan for light, medium, and heavy days—not just “go” every session
This isn’t about going easy.
It’s about training smarter—so you can train longer.
Don’t Let Metrics Replace Intuition
If you’re using tools like Oura, Whoop, or HRV apps, great.
But don’t become a slave to the data.
Ask:
“What’s my body saying before I check the numbers?”
“Is my system responding the way I expect it to?”
“Am I recovering as fast as I’m progressing?”
“If recovery lags behind progress—you’re eventually going to stall (or crash).”
The Longevity Move
Sustainable performance is adaptive performance.
Which means learning to read the room (your body) before you force the issue.
If you’re under-doing it, raise the floor.
If you’re overdoing it, raise your awareness.
If you’re in the zone—keep the momentum, but don’t ignore the signals.
Want our go-to Weekly Calibration Checklist used inside the Optimise Method™?
👉 Download it here. It’s free, quick, and ridiculously useful.
