Is There Such a Thing as Overtraining?
Is there such a thing as overtraining?
Most of us know that we should have rest days between workouts, but what does that really mean, and can training too much be bad for us?
We better our performance by “dosing” our body with exercise: the more we work out, the better our performance should be. This is true only up to a point: you can harm your body by overtraining.
When your body declines rather than improves from exercise, you might be experiencing overtraining syndrome or OTS. You reach this point by exercising too much and not allowing enough recovery time between workouts. You can also reach this point with poor nutrition (like not eating enough calories to fuel your workouts).
This first part of OTS is called overreaching, and with it, you experience muscle soreness that is more intense than usual, but you push through and continue to train without resting. You can experience this for several days of hard workouts. After this, if you continue to train without rest, you’ll begin to experience overtraining.
Many people think they need to train harder to overcome a decline, but this makes things worse.
problems from overtraining:
Increased muscle soreness that gets worse the more you train
A plateau or decline in athletic performance
Inability to train at the level you usually do
Excessive sweating and overheating
Feeling like your muscles are heavy or stiff, especially your legs
Injuries that keep coming back, like muscle sprains, stress fractures, and joint pain
Loss of enthusiasm for exercise, or feeling like you want to skip your workouts altogether
Health-related symptoms:
Repeated illnesses, like colds or respiratory infections
Increase in blood pressure or resting heart rate
Changes in skin, hair, and nails that make you appear unwell
Digestive issues, like diarrhea or constipation
Irregular menstrual cycles or loss of menstruation completely
Sudden weight loss, loss of appetite, or disordered eating
Lifestyle-related symptoms:
Persistent fatigue, exhaustion, or low levels of energy
Poor sleep or insomnia caused by not being able to relax
Decreased motivation or self-esteem
Signs of depression, like loss of enjoyment in activities or moodiness
Increased feelings of anger or confusion
Inability to concentrate, which affects your performance at work or school
What is the solution?
The only way to recover from OTS is to rest—you must stop training for a period of time, usually four to twelve weeks. You can still do a little bit of low-intensity aerobics—like walking—to keep fit. Once you are recovered, a good rule of thumb is to restart training at 50% of your normal training and increase by 10% a week.
The best way to prevent OTC is to get rest—you should take at least one day off per week to let your body recover.
Also, make sure that you’re eating a diet with enough carbs and protein to fuel and repair your muscles.
Drink at least 8-8 oz glasses of water a day to keep hydrated.
(https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/what-to-know-about-overtraining)
