From burning out in Tech to understanding that my physical debt was the problem

We talk a lot about technical debt in tech. But nobody talks about physical debt.

Here's what I mean.

When a bug shows up, it gets prioritized. It gets fixed. We treat technical debt seriously because we know what happens when you let it pile up.

But when it comes to our bodies?

We push through, skip workouts, eat whatever, stay up until 2am and call it dedication.

That's not dedication. That's physical debt accumulating.

Here's the part that took me a while to understand:

Most people think about performance as a straight line. You put in the work, you get the results. More hours in, more output out.

But there are two variables almost nobody accounts for: Delivery Capacity and Physical Debt. And they're deeply correlated.

When physical debt piles up, delivery capacity shrinks. A high performer quietly becomes a bottleneck. And a whole team or product ends up paying the price of the physical debt they never agreed to take on.

Here's what I'm doing to don't fall in this trap:

1. Sleep: 7 to 8 hours. A good night of sleep is doing more for my output than any extra hours I can squeeze in a day.
2. Eating whole foods: The fuel you put in your body defines how you think and perform.
3. Movement: 7k steps + 3 strength sessions a week.
4. Calendar intention: If it's not in there, is probably not happening.

This is the concept I'm exploring with ProductFitCoach, a performance system I'm building with a certified nutritionist and a personal trainer, specifically for tech professionals.

We're validating it right now with 2 people who are serious about getting in shape while improving their tech career and performance over the next 3 months. If that's you, drop a comment and I'll share the details.

Curious if others here have experienced this. How do you manage physical debt while building?