PRs have stopped, you're not feeling as good as you had been, you'll not looking forward to your time in the gym like you had been.
Sometimes it takes longer to realize than you would think, but suddenly you realize things are not going as you would like them to go (and as they had been before). What do you do?
Because recovery is the limiting factor, it is helpful to think through different areas of your life that contribute to recovery and where you might be falling short or missing the mark:
- sleep (quality & quantity)
- eating (quality, quantity, consistency)
- alcohol
- protein
- routine (do you have one right now?)
- stress
You will likely identify an area or multiple where you are not doing as well as you can. For example, maybe you've fallen out of your normal routine during the summer, partly by drinking more. The drinking has reduced your sleep quality and quantity and also your protein and fiber.
Tightening things up, reducing alcohol, and reestablishing your routine can help.
Minimum Effective Action: Consistency & Path of Least Resistance
Identifying the path forward when you want to make changes can be hard. Really, the simple, hard, effective way is the way forward. Focus on one or two things, and do them consistently.
The change needs to be something you can see yourself doing indefinitely. IT needs to become a habit, so that when you do not have discipline OR motivation, it is the easy thing to do.
For example, for Andrew and Niki they feel bad when they do not work or they eat bad food. It has become easy for them to eat healthier and train because otherwise they very quickly identify they feel bad and see the negative consequences.
Take the minimum effective action to reach your goals.