#41 - Are you Overtraining?
Although I know everyone will agree when I say having daily physical activity is good for our health because it does benefit our weight, our mood & our body, doing too much of it can pose a lot of dangerous risks to our health and it can actually be counterproductive.
To challenge yourself to do better with your workouts is one thing. However, training way too much, way too hard & way too quick than you’re supposed to can cause great troubles, specifically with your health.
Two Ways One Can Overtrain
There are two ways one can be doing too much of the good stuff, you know overtrain or overexercise.
One is by ‘overreaching’ & second is by ‘compulsive overtraining’. Let me briefly discuss the two and the difference between the two.
#1 Overreaching
Overreaching basically is training too hard in a too quickly manner. It happens when you are not giving yourself enough room to rest in between workouts, when you are not getting the right nutrition that you need for your routine & exercise, when you are not getting enough sleep (by now, you should understand how important it is.) and by not listening to your body when it needs a break like when you still push through a workout despite feeling sick. Can you now understand how risky this could be?
#2 Compulsive Overtraining
Compulsive Overtraining, on the other hand, is when your trainings & workouts are no longer done out of choice, but of compulsion. It’s as if working out no longer feels like an activity you choose to do & actually do want to do, but more of an activity you feel like you ought to do, like it’s a duty. Hence, exercise, instead of being fun & enjoyable, becomes a burden.
The Signs & Symptoms of Overtraining
While these two are different in meaning, individuals who experience these types of overtraining can experience quite similar symptoms like the following. Usually to diagnose overtraining and overreaching more than 3 should be present over a period of time. The symptoms include but are not limited to the following:
Extended Muscle Soreness & Muscle Fatigue
Decreased Immune Response (Getting sick too often)
Increased Injuries or Recurring Injuries
Constant Fatigue, Irritability & Low Energy
Hitting Performance Plateaus or Declines (Not making any progress)
Anxiety & Depression (Yes, believe it or not, it’s a symptom!)
Prioritizing Workouts Above All Else (Not having enough social activities)
What to do?
How many of those did you nod your head at?
It is hard to want to do it all, and I am sure it can be confusing with the culture in the fitness community to just suck it up and grind. But now that you know what the symptoms overtraining is & how you can identify if you in the rut.
Next step is to stay tuned for the following episodes where I will share more about how you can turn this around, and become more mindful & more aware of what goes on in your life.
In the meantime, do give yourself time to rest you’re your body tells you to.
REMEMBER, it’s OKAY to take breaks. Rest, too, is a crucial part of every successful fitness plan.
Consider rest, hydration & nutrition is at least 2/3rds of the way to achiving your fitness goals.
Lastly, If you recognise you are in the overtraining zone, and would like help to come out of it AND achieve your goals. Book in for a FREE 20-minute Explore Call with me & let’s brake it down how you could go about it.
Cheers,
Coach Eik
