I Stopped Pushing My Body... and My Recovery Got Better
Good thing, too. 'Cause I was about 5 minutes away from quitting...
I was about 5 minutes from quitting. I had just enough time to jump into the boss’s office and let him know it just wasn’t working out. I was tired, I was frustrated, I was irritable and worst of all, my damn shoulder started hurting again after my last workout. I was over it. And, it was entirely my fault.
See, for a long time, my answer to feeling tired was simple, like any athlete (and ironically, coach):
Train harder.
Push through.
Have another coffee…
It worked… until it didn’t.
I *wasn’t injured.
I *wasn’t lazy.
I just felt foggy in a way working out failed to fix.
Sleep felt “fine,” and my energy was shot. My body told a different story.
So instead of changing my workouts, I tried something else.
I treated rest like I was training for the Olympics again...
What I Changed (Nothing Extreme)
Some of you may be disappointed here… cause it’s sure as heck not sexy.
I kept on training.
I din’t hop a plane to Bali for some jaguar retreat in the jungle with a bunch of modern hippies wearing organic cotton and smelling of patchouli…
There was no “eat, love, pray” moment… I didn’t overhaul my life.
I just stopped winging the evenings.
It blows my mind how many people come up to me and ask me what the best exercise is. What’s the best thing to eat before/after a workout, what time they should workout… but everyone’s sleeping on… well… sleep.
Here’s what worked for me….
…I picked a consistent sleep window and stuck to it.
I gave myself permission to wind down without scrolling.
I used my own sound medicine; music designed to help my nervous system settle, instead of forcing myself to “relax.” That was stressful in and of itself.
That was it.
No hacks.
No heroics.
Just consistency.
What Happened
A few things shifted quickly:
I woke up clearer
My mood steadied out
Training felt easier to recover from
Fewer days where everything felt like a grind
Nothing dramatic.
Just… better.
It felt like my body finally had room to adapt instead of just survive.
The Thing We Don’t Talk About Enough
Most of us know how to work hard.
We’re less practiced at resting well.
Rest gets treated like something you earn after you’re exhausted. Or something you squeeze in if there’s time left… wtf?
Real rest is not passive.
It’s a skill.
And like any skill, it gets easier when it’s made approachable.
Why This Matters (Even If You Don’t “Train”)
This is bigger than workouts.
It’s about:
feeling less wired at night
waking up without dread
having energy that lasts past noon
doing hard things without burning yourself out
When your nervous system gets a clear signal that it’s safe to downshift, everything else works better.
A Small Invitation
I put together a short, free 5-day Deep Rest Trial… not as a challenge, as an experiment.
It’s simple:
a consistent sleep window
a nightly sound-based wind-down
one small habit to test
paying attention to how you actually feel
No perfection required.
No pressure to perform.
Just a chance to see what happens when rest stops being an afterthought.
If that sounds useful, you’re welcome to join.
→ [Join The Deep Rest Sleep Study]
You can do hard things when they’re approachable.
Sometimes the bravest move it’s letting yourself rest long enough to come back clear. Look at bears… sleeping all winter…
Anyway, if you’d like to listen to my music for free and see if it helps you sleep, click below. Thanks for reading!
PS. For coaches and trainers: I shared a deeper, behind-the-scenes breakdown of this experiment and many more, including all the data and decision-making inside my paid tier, The Den.
Consider making an subscription upgrade and add me to your team to help you get even better results from your clients. Everything’s better when you sleep. You’ve paid for the year with one “I actually got to sleep for more than 5 hours” testimonial from a client…