Signs of Overtraining
May 4, 2017 - Fitness - 0 Comments
We are all trying our best to get in better shape. Eat right and workout. It has been said that it takes roughly three weeks to develop a habit and less than three minutes to break it. When starting a new exercise program or goal, we tend to be very motivated and like in all things we “want it now!” If a little is good for us then a lot must be better. Not necessarily. You could be quickly overtraining.
What is overtraining? To understand what overtraining is, we first need to know how exercise physiologically effect the body. When we exercise, we are creating trauma to the body. When we lift weights, the muscles are stressed and even can have small micro tears in them. The body responds by building more tissue to take on the increased forces. This is known as the SAID principle or Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand. The same happens when we stress our system doing cardiovascular exercise. The heart responds by getting stronger to eject more blood out per beat to supply the muscles with oxygen. The important thing to remember is that the building up of the body happens during REST not exercise. This is where overtraining comes in.
The buildup period for the body is around 1-2 days depending on the intensity of the exercise. If there is more time then described, the body starts to retreat to its original shape losing what was trying to be built up. In overtraining, we breakdown the body but don’t give it adequate time to repair. Lack of sleep, poor nutrition, or too high of intensity of exercise all contribute to overtraining.
So how can you tell if you are overtraining? Signs of overtraining could be lack of motivation to exercise, feeling of being constantly tired, decrease in performance while exercising, and increase in heart-rate during the same intensity of cardiovascular training. These are some of the signs that can tell you that rest is needed. A good rule of thumb in any exercise regimen is to take a week off every 2-3 months of training. This will let the body fully repair itself and mentally give you a rest.
