It’s good to take your workout seriously but not so much that it reaches the point of overtraining. Overtraining your body without adequate time to rest halt your physical and mental health. It can reduce athletic performance, increase the risk of injury and result in mood swings. Training beyond your body’s ability is commonly known as Overtraining Syndrome. It is a condition when you workout out too much without giving your body enough time to rest.
There are ways you can identify warning signs of overtraining to prevent potential harm to your body.
There are many signs of overtraining you can look out for. Some common signs of overtraining may include:
Decrease in performance and progress
Have you seen a decline in your performance levels and growth? If yes, then it could be one of the signs of overtraining, says Body transformation coach Aditya Shrivastava. When you overtrain, your muscles don’t get time to repair and keep breaking down. And this results in slow growth.
Increased heartbeat and blood pressure
Another sign of overtraining is unusually high or low resting heart rate. Increased metabolic rate due to overtaking can impact your heart rate and blood pressure.
Muscle soreness
Minor discomfort of sore muscles is fine. But if it gets unbearable and lasts for longer than a day, it can be a sign of overtraining.
Increased injury
One of the damaging signs of pertaining is frequent injuries. Muscle sprain, tendonitis, stress fractures and joint pain are common injuries you may experience.
Lack of concentration
Overtraining may also make it difficult for you to concentrate. Mental fatigue and fogginess can also be very common signs of overtraining for many people.
Prolong fatigue
Overtraining will result in persistent feelings of exhaustion and fatigue. You may experience a loss of energy throughout the day.
Decline in motivation
You may feel unmotivated to do activities you used to enjoy earlier. So if you have been feeling a lack of enjoyment in your favorite hobbies, this could be a sign of overtraining.
Insomnia
Your sleep pattern may also get disrupted due to overtraining. Since your body grows while sleeping, this can also affect your workout progress as well.
Recovering for overtraining
There are few ways you can recover your body from overtraining. When the signs of overtraining are adverse, it’s best to seek the help of healthcare or fitness professionals.
Rest:
One easy way to offset the effect of overtraining is to stop working out for at least a week and take a rest. Reducing the training by 50 to 80 percent can lead to a significant improvement. During this period, light activities such as walking are totally fine unless you have an injury.
Sleep
For most people, 7-8 hours of sleep is good enough. But you may need to take more than that when recovering from overtraining. The best way to maintain a healthy sleep pattern is to set a time to go to bed and a time to wake up.
Fuel it up with a diet
You might be on a low-calorie diet when trying to lose fat. But when you experience signs of overtraining, it’s best to forget the stick diet restriction for a while. A balanced diet is a must to recover your body from overtraining and repair the muscles.
Make adjustments to work out
If you still have an illness or injury, it’s important to modify your workout when you return to sport. Make adoption to exercise and try cross-training in other areas that are not injured. It’s advisable to get a healthcare professional to guide you for complete recovery.
Summary
With the above-listed signs of overtraining, you can easily identify the potential damage of working out too much. If these signs are not assessed and addressed it can affect your health adversely. When you can not figure it out yourself, it is best to train under a fitness professional.
About AnExtraRep
AnExtraRep is a body transformation and fitness agency headed by Aditya Shrivastava. Aditya is into bodybuilding for the last 19 years and is known for his practical and solid knowledge.
He is also a certified fitness trainer with I.S.S.A.
Over the last 9 years, his company has been Transforming over 2000 people every year from body to mindset about fitness.
Aditya helps those who want to stay fit. Not only looking in great shape but also disease-free with a happier lifestyle.
Read More about AnExtraRep Body Transformation Program at AnExtraRep’s 12 Week Transformation Program