When the Wind’s Against You

Rewriting the Story We Tell Ourselves About Exercise, Burnout, and Rest

Why do we feel guilty about not exercising…even when we're barely sleeping, drowning in stress, and running on fumes?

It’s like blaming a sailor for not speeding up while the wind howls against them and the current drags the other way.

Pushing ourselves harder under those conditions isn’t just unkind—it’s unwise. High-intensity exercise when the system is already overloaded often leads to injury, more stress, and worse sleep.

Some of us may feel that way int he current political climate as well.

Before we talk about doing more, we need to pause—and ask: What’s actually going on below the surface?

What do we need to less of?

Let’s examine the triad of stress, sleep, and movement—and how our inner narratives can keep us trapped in a cycle that harms more than it heals.

Exercise, Stress, and Sleep: The Triad That Keeps You Afloat

Exercise, stress, and sleep are like three fingers pulling on the same rubber band. If you stretch one too far in any direction without relaxing the others, the band snaps.

Take burnout or a rough breakup, for example. You're under emotional stress, and your sleep is suffering. If you pile on high-intensity workouts during this period, you might get a dopamine boost—but at the cost of spiking your cortisol, raising sympathetic nervous system activity, and further delaying your recovery and repair¹.

Balance is key. When sleep is poor and stress is high, gentle movement, such as brisk walks or neck muscle stretches (see the Habits section), is far more supportive than pushing into HIIT or heavy lifting.

The Sailing Metaphor

Imagine your body like a sailboat. At any given time, three elements determine your direction and speed:

• Wind = Stress: It’s the external condition you feel most clearly in your daily life. It determines how fast you can realistically go.

• Ocean Current = Sleep: Less visible but profoundly influential. Like sleep, it often operates outside of your awareness, yet silently governs your capacity for energy and resilience². Even elite athletes prioritize recovery. Ask them their secret beyond talent and training, and they’ll say: sleep, massage, and nervous system care³.

• Sail = Exercise: The one thing you can control. You can choose to open up, tighten, or even add sails—if the conditions allow.

Photo by Jonathan Smith on Unsplash

The Role of Data & Wearables in Understanding the Conditions

Modern wearables like Garmin, Fitbit, and Oura use "readiness scores" to guide exertion. Although many of these algorithms are notorious for being inaccurate, you can create your own navigation system by measuring the metrics underneath them which are:

• Heart Rate Variability (HRV): A measure of how well your autonomic nervous system is adapting to stress. Low HRV = high stress load⁴.

• Sleep Data: Including total sleep, REM, and deep sleep cycles.

• Recovery Biomarkers: Lab tests like C-reactive protein (CRP), Homocysteine, and Urine Cortisol are strong indicators of systemic stress and inflammation⁵.

We’ll cover these in detail in the data portion of the book. Subjective metrics such as self-compassion scores and burnout indices add crucial psychological context.

When sleep is adequate, stress is low, and compassion is high, your system is aligned. These are the ideal conditions for high-performance exercise. You can open up your sails and brace the open seas!

When the Boat Won’t Move

Many clients come to me feeling guilty for not exercising “enough.” But often they’re sleeping poorly, feeling overwhelmed, and experiencing internal stress. Expecting yourself to push through that is like blaming a sailor for not speeding up when the wind is against them and the current is pushing the wrong way.

This is where discernment matters more than discipline.

Learn to distinguish between external stressors and internal blocks like self-judgment, shame, or perfectionism. Telling yourself you’re lazy won't help. Listening to what your body actually needs will.

Exercising hard when your system is already under strain often leads to injury, which reduces movement, increases stress, and disrupts sleep—creating a vicious loop.

This is why we must ask: What is the real cost of overexertion under stress?

As Hippocrates reminds us in medicine: "First, do no harm." Yet our culture encourages us to override our limits in the name of productivity and aesthetics.

Research shows that exercising during periods of high stress and poor sleep can worsen inflammation, increase injury risk, and impair immune function⁶.

Before trying to “optimize” anything, ask yourself what’s driving the stress in the first place. You may not need to train harder—you may need to rest more deeply.

Because sometimes the best move isn’t to push forward. It’s to adjust the sails.

Ready to stop blaming yourself and start navigating with clarity?

If you’ve been pushing through stress and poor sleep wondering why your workouts aren’t helping — it’s time to pause and reassess.

Take the free Human Dash Health Assessment to understand how stress, sleep, and movement are interacting in your life — and get personalized insights to help you realign.

👉 Get the assessment here

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