When Luca (30) hired me as a personal trainer, he told me: “I work till I am no longer able to”. Meaning his limit is pure breakdown.
Currently, he works at one of the biggest Tech companies in the world as a Project Manager. His job is demanding, but training 5 times per week gives him energy and mental strength to thrive at what he is doing.
However, it was not always like that.
At his previous company, he started noticing alarming signals of having a burnout.
In this interview he talks about how becoming a regular at the gym helped him cope with stress, overwhelm and frustration.
Alex: What was the moment when you realised that you are having a burnout?
Luca: Oh, that’s a good question... I realised that I was having a burnout because the perspective of continuing the job that I was doing was really making me sick. The idea of going to the office was making me sick. Like, feeling short breath or even nausea.
It wasn't severe. So, I never actually took a day off. I never went on sick leave. But I remember that for a month, I really felt that if I had to go on like that for another six months, I'm going to just quit. So there was physical, mental tiredness, etc.
Alex: What did your burnout feel like? Did you lose interest in the job?
Luca: No, it wasn't just losing interest, I was not bored. But the things that I needed to do, the environment that I was working in were so toxic that being in the office was painful. And the problem is that I had to do so much stuff that I was still working for 10 hours per day.
Alex: What caused your burnout in the first place?
Luca: Well, we were under stuffed. As a metaphor, my team was supposed to run a marathon with a broken leg with our stakeholders shouting at us, telling us to run faster. So, basically, it was an impossible job to do.
Very repetitive because you have to run for 40 km where someone keeps yelling at you saying faster, faster, faster, faster. Not considering that you have a broken leg and you are in pain.
Alex: How did you come to the idea that working out could help with the burnout?
Luca: I didn't make that connection straight away. It wasn’t that simple. But I started going to the gym and only afterwards I realised that working out was actually reducing my level of stress, and it was helping me cope with the burnout.
Alex: Why did you start working out then?
Luca: So one thing was realising that at my age I was feeling physically weak. I hadn’t practised any sports for 15 years. I said, I cannot be at 28 and not be able to climb the stairs at my office.
Second, I realised that neuroscientists (who are the only people that I trust) were saying that physical activity is increasing not only your mental capacity, but it's increasing neurogenesis and increasing your mental health.
And third, the realisation that doing physical activity is a meditation technique that is easier than meditation itself.
Alex: After being physically inactive for 15 years, you started going to the gym every morning, 5 times per week. How did you make such a drastic lifestyle change?
Luca: Probably because I've been working on my habits for such a long time. In 2019, I started intermittent fasting. So skipping breakfast and not eating between 09:00 p.m. And 12:00 a.m.
Luca: I would say that I definitely have more energy and feel less stressed. I workout every morning before work and if I skip even one session, I notice that afterwards my brain is less active and I have less energy.
Also, feeling physically stronger gives you the feeling that you can also stand stronger with other people. So you are more confident with other people, like with your colleagues, with your peers. Which also makes sense from an evolutionary perspective.
Alex: What is your advice for anyone who is having a burnout or is headed in that direction?
Luca: This is a $1 million question. With the premise that all adults are different, and all jobs are different, I would say that having something in your daily routine that is cleaning your mental health is essential.
In the literature, they call it mental health hygiene. Before going to bed we brush our teeth, we clean our face, but we don't clean our mind. For me, going to the gym (plus other things) is what I am doing to take care of my mental health.
For me, going to the gym (plus other things) is what I am doing to take care of my mental health.
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