7 Warning Signs of Overtraining: How to Recognize and Recover
When individuals work out much more than their bodies can withstand, they develop overtraining. If someone trains too much without rest, they may face physical and mental exhaustion.
You should identify if you are overtraining, as it can harm your health and prevent you from improving. In this text, we’ll bring attention to seven noticeable signs of overtraining and provide useful tips on how to cure them.
1. People find that they feel very tired and have little energy.
When someone is overtraining, they often feel unusually weary all the time. Feeling sleepy after exercise is normal, but if you stay tired even after taking a rest, something is not right with your body’s recovery.
The Reason It Occurs:
- Your CNS is highly stressed out.
- The body is running low on glycogen.
- Energy levels are disturbed by chemical changes (high cortisol and low testosterone) in the body.
Solutions to Repairing It:
- For one to two weeks, train your body with only 30-50% of your usual volume.
- Make sure you sleep for 7 to 9 hours each night.
- Do some yoga, take a walk or swim when taking time off.
2. Hard Workouts Affect Performance in a Negative Way
If your training workload is higher but you become slower, weaker or less fast or powerful, you may be going too hard. Many times, endurance athletes and weightlifters experience this due to failing to give their bodies enough breaks.
Why the Situation Emerged:
- There is more damage to muscle tissue than repairs.
- Feeling worn out in the CNS makes people less powerful and coordinated.
- When the body is overtrained, its energy production by mitochondria is hindered.
Solutions for this Issue:
- Try not to push yourself during the week (decrease the intensity and volume).
- Work on improving your technique instead of focusing on trying extremely hard moves.
- Eat enough protein every day (writers should look at the chart posted in the Discussion).
3. Measures of RHR and HRV often increase.
If your pulse is unusually high when you wake up, it may indicate that you’ve overtrained. Also, having reduced heart rate variability (HRV) suggests that the body is not recovering enough.
Explanations for This:
- If someone feels very high levels of stress, their sympathetic nervous system becomes very active.
- Inflammation over time influences the effectiveness of the heart.
Tips for Resolving the Problem
- Use a fitness watch such as Garmin or Whoop, to measure your RHR and HRV.
- If RHR jumps by more than 5 beats, take at least 2-3 days off.
- Try to deep breathe and meditate to reduce your stress levels.
4. When someone coughs often, their immune system gets weakened.
When you exercise too much, you weaken your immune system and become more likely to catch colds, have slower healing times and acquire infections.
Why the Problem Arises:
- Cortisol which is increased by tough physical exercise, can weaken the body’s immune system.
- Glutamine which is important for the immune system, is now missing.
How to Solve the Problem:
- During sickness, you should make your training session less intense.
- Take more vitamin C; ensure enough zinc in your diet; and add probiotics.
- Any time in your timetable, get a day to relax and have time off.
5. Irrational feelings, angry outbursts and feeling down.
When you overtrain, it damages your mental health as well as your physical health. Someone with these issues may find themselves facing these problems.
- Anxiety
- There is not enough motivation for employees.
- Emotional exhaustion
Explanation for the Occurrence:
- Excessive exercise reduces the levels of serotonin and dopamine in our bodies.
- A lack of sleep lowers your mental energy level.
Ways to Resolve the Problem:
- Give your brain a chance to rest from the usual training regimen.
- Consider going hiking or bike riding without much effort.
- Try engaging in counseling or practicing mindfulness.
6. Sleeping Problems
It may seem odd, but doing too many exercises can affect your ability to rest well at night. As a result, it becomes increasingly difficult for the affected region to recover.
The reasons behind it.
- Cortisol level in the body can disrupt your sleeping and waking cycle.
- A higher temperature and increased adrenaline act to keep your body alert.
The best way to handle the problem is to:
- Don’t exercise too hard 3 hours before bed.
- Consider including magnesium or melatonin (on your doctor’s advice).
- Maintain a soothing pattern before sleeping (such as reading or meditating).
7. Muscle aches or pains that do not heal with time
Having DOMS is normal, but if soreness continues for longer than three days, it usually indicates that the body is not recovering properly. Joint pain may also occur because of being overused.
Explanation of Why It Happens:
- Microtears in muscles are not getting fixed.
- Without proper rest, your body becomes inflamed.
What You Can Do to Solve It:
- Change your routine to exercises that cause less stress on your joints (such as swimming rather than running).
- Consider using foam rolling and massages.
- Include anti-inflammatory options in your diet (like turmeric and omega-3s).
Ways to Avoid Overtraining
- Alternate heavy training sessions with low-intensity exercises.
- Take in the necessary calories, protein and vitamins and minerals.
- If you feel exhausted, try to rest for a bit.
- Measure your sleep, Resting Heart Rate (RHR) and Heart Rate Variability (HRV).
- Schedule a weekly cycle where you decrease the amount of weight and reps every few weeks.
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