Burnout comes from never acknowledging you're making progress.
Not from effort. Not from long hours. Not from pushing hard.
From endlessly striving without ever pausing to recognize what you've achieved.
Antonio Pugliese has seen this pattern destroy more fitness journeys than bad programs or busy schedules. He's also lived it himself:
"I've been in a scenario where I've lost 30 pounds, where I've gained the 30 pounds of muscle. I've done it all myself. And I know there's times where I'm just continuously just striving and striving and striving."
The problem wasn't the effort. It was what came after.
The Trap of "More"
Here's how it happens:
You set a goal. You work toward it. You achieve it.
And instead of acknowledging it, you immediately raise the bar.
"I get to the next thing. I achieve the next thing and I don't acknowledge the previous one that I actually was setting out to do. And I continue to raise the bar. That's when you actually have that burnout."
The goal shifts before you ever let yourself feel the win. 10 pounds becomes 20. A 5K becomes a marathon. One promotion leads straight to chasing the next.
This isn't ambition. This is a recipe for exhaustion.
Why We Skip the Win
Acknowledging wins feels uncomfortable for high achievers. It can feel like:
- Complacency
- Bragging
- Losing momentum
So we skip it. We tell ourselves we'll celebrate "when we really make it." When we hit the big goal. When we're finally where we want to be.
But that moment never comes. The goalpost keeps moving.
The Positive Reinforcement Loop
Antonio builds deliberate pause points into his coaching. His clients have mandatory weekly check-ins -not just for data, but for reflection:
"This is a prime scenario where we have a mandatory time of connection where I can enforce that positive reinforcement. Or if I have to tell them to slow down and I have to give them more of a mental check-in as opposed to a physical one, that's where I do that."
He forces the acknowledgment that clients would otherwise skip.
And it works:
"If we're looking at the week as a whole and you have a lot of data to go off of and I tell this individual, you know, look at A, B and C, the difference between the week or even a month or a few months, it's going to be very evident for them to say, wow, like one, he's a professional, he's telling me, but two, this is actually really cool to see that I'm acknowledging my progress."
Seeing the data makes the progress undeniable. And acknowledging it creates energy to continue.
For As Hard As You Push, Sometimes You Need to Pull Back
This is the principle Antonio lives by:
"I'm big on positive reinforcement again, you know, letting them know what they're doing well, but also encouraging for as hard as you push, sometimes you need to pull back and that's okay."
The pull-back isn't weakness. It's what allows the next push.
Athletes understand this with physical training -you can't go 100% every single day without breaking down. But we forget to apply it mentally and emotionally.
The Fix
If you're feeling burned out, the answer might not be less effort. It might be more acknowledgment.
Try this:
1. Weekly wins review. Every Sunday, write down three things you accomplished that week. Not things you still need to do. Things you did.
2. Milestone markers. When you hit a goal, mark it. Celebrate it somehow -even if it's just telling one person.
3. Progress tracking. Look at where you were a month ago, three months ago, a year ago. The trajectory matters more than the current position.
4. Pause before raising the bar. Hit your goal? Sit with it for at least a week before setting the next one.
The Mouse on the Wheel
"The individuals that keep going, keep going, keep going, and don't take the time to reflect and pause. That's where the burnout occurs. That's where the mental state of enough is never enough... you're just gonna keep chasing the rabbit on the wheel or the mouse on the wheel."
You can run forever and never get anywhere if you don't stop to acknowledge the distance covered.
The effort isn't the problem. The endless, unacknowledged effort is.
Take the win. Then keep going.
Antonio Pugliese coaches busy professionals on building sustainable fitness habits. Follow him on Instagram @pugliese.fitness.