Why You Should Sandbag Your Workout (Pt. 1)
Over the last 15+ years of coaching and being in the fitness industry, I’ve noticed something that’s changed dramatically—not just how people exercise, but the state they’re exercising from.
This will be Part 1 of a 2-part series because there’s a lot to unpack.
What I’m seeing more and more is that people aren’t coming into the gym physically tired—they’re coming in mentally overloaded, emotionally drained, and carrying stress levels that never really turn off.
We’re living in a world that moves faster than ever. Technology keeps us connected, productive, entertained, informed… but it’s also changed the way our nervous systems operate.
Technology: Helpful… But Not Free
Technology has given us convenience and efficiency in ways we couldn’t imagine years ago. But it’s also introduced a level of stimulation and stress that many of us don’t realize we’re carrying.
We’re always reachable.
Work follows us home. Messages, emails, notifications, like there’s always something waiting for our attention. Even when we’re “off,” many of us don’t actually feel off.
We consume more information than ever.
News never stops. Social media never ends. There’s always another article, another video, another opinion. Our brains were never designed to process this much input all day long.
Comparison has become constant.
We’re exposed to highlight reels of everyone else’s lives while living the reality of our own. It’s easy to feel behind, not doing enough, or like everyone else has it figured out.
FOMO keeps us plugged in.
There’s this underlying feeling that if we disconnect, we’ll miss something important—even if what we really need is rest.
Sleep suffers.
More screen time. More stimulation. More difficulty winding down. And when sleep quality drops, everything feels harder.
Our attention is getting pulled in every direction.
We’ve become so used to switching between tabs, texts, and tasks that slowing down and focusing can actually feel uncomfortable.
The Productivity Trap
Another thing I’ve noticed is how much we’ve tied our worth to output.
Technology lets us do more… but instead of creating more space, it often creates more expectations.
More availability.
More efficiency.
More pressure to optimize every hour of the day.
We glorify being busy.
But busy doesn’t always mean healthy. And productive doesn’t always mean fulfilled.
Many people are running on empty while convincing themselves they just need to push harder.
Why This Matters For Exercise
This is where fitness comes in.
For years, exercise has often been prescribed as: work harder, push more, do more.
But if someone is already operating under constant stress, adding more intensity isn’t always the answer.
Sometimes the body doesn’t need more stress.
Sometimes it needs movement that restores, builds resilience, and actually helps regulate the nervous system.
That doesn’t mean hard training is bad. It means context matters.
We can’t talk about exercise without talking about the environment people are living in outside the gym.
In Part 2, I’ll talk more about how this changes the way I think about training and why exercise may need to look different than it did 10–15 years ago.
Stay tuned.
