Having a commitment to your fitness is great, but there is a fine line where you can do too much which can be detrimental to your goals.
It is easy to think that doing more means burning more calories which can help you lose bodyfat, but it can also mean that you could be burning lean muscle tissue and even your motivation!
So how do you know when you have done to much?
Recognizing signs early enough to combat them is key. This can help you avoid detrimental outcomes in both your health and overall fitness.
So what are these signs?
For athletes one of the biggest signs is their decrease in performance. Athletes who are suffering from overtraining syndrome (OTS) will often see a decrease in their agility, strength, and endurance! Often times these present as slower reaction times and reduced running speed.
If you are starting to perceive your workouts as more difficult than usual you might have OTS. One of the biggest signs for this is a heart rate that is higher than usual either while exercising or even throughout the day, you may also experience a longer than normal time for your heart rate to return to normal post workout.
Experiencing excessive fatigue is another early sign of overtraining, without proper rest and recovery your body is pulling non-stop from its energy stores. This can lead to feeling fatigued all the time.
Exercising can improve your mental health but to much can negatively affect your hormones, specifically cortisol and epinephrine. This can cause you to be irritable, experience mood swings, and even an inability to concentrate.
Playing off the imbalance in your hormones overtraining can lead to poor sleep. The over production of the stress hormone cortisol can interfere with your ability to wind down and relax. This can lead to insomnia, which also leads to the feeling of fatigue and moodiness.
Another effect of the hormone imbalance is a loss of appetite.
Often times when we over train we overuse our muscles and joints which can cause pain. The magic number for having pain is two weeks, if your body is experiencing the same pain for over two weeks it should be considered an injury.
Overtraining also plays havoc on the bodies immune system making it difficult for your body to fight off viruses. People who over train often experience illnesses more than usual. One of the common ones being upper-respiratory tract infections, individuals can also experience low bone density and lower testosterone levels.
Over training also causes metabolic imbalances in both males and females. You can experience nutrient deficiencies. This deficiency can lead to a decrease in performance and health. OTS can also lead to issues with your nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, and reproductive systems. A good example of this is women experiencing menstrual cycle issues.
So if you start to experience any of these signs of overtraining it is time to evaluate your training program. A properly periodized program will have active recovery and even complete rest in it. I know many times resting seems counter productive but it is better than the alternative.
If you have any questions about your training program feel free to shoot me a email at fultztrainingsystems@gmail.com
Jim Fultz 