If a little exercise is good for you, more must be better, right? Yes, but only up to a point.
When it comes to exercise volume, there is a “dose-response relationship,” which means that the more you work out, the more benefits you will achieve.
However, there is a tipping point beyond which the amount of exercise you perform can do more harm than good. This point can be reached by one or both of the following ways: too much exercise without enough recovery and/or chronic under fueling.
This tipping point is known as overtraining syndrome (OTS) and, in short, leads to a decrement in fitness level and possibly injury.
Overtraining can happen to anyone.
Whether you are male or female, you are equally at risk for OTS ( there are specific genetic markers that will reveal your level of risk), so recognizing the early signs and combating them can prevent detrimental fitness and health outcomes.
9 Signs of Overtraining
1. Decreased performance.
The telltale sign of overtraining is a lack of improved performance, despite an increase in training intensity or volume. Decreased agility, strength and endurance, such as slower reaction timesand reduced running speeds are all common signs of overtraining.
2. Increased perceived effort during workouts.
Not only can overtraining decrease performance, it can also make seemingly effortless workouts feel unusually difficult.
A clear sign of this is an abnormally elevated heart rate during exercise or throughout the day. If you are experiencing OTS, you may find that it takes longer for your heart rate to return to normal after a workout. You may find your heart rate elevated when you lay down to sleep at night.
3. Excessive fatigue.
A few days of fatigue or “heavy legs” is expected at times. However, fatigue will accumulate in a body that never has a chance to fully recover from previous workouts.
Further, chronic, negative energy expenditure leads to something called “low energy availability,” which means that the body is consistently pulling from its own energy stores (carbs, protein, fat). This can be the result of too much training or too little fueling.
This is a sign of excessive inflammation. There are some individuals that must have more recovery time in between their training protocols.
4. Agitation and moodiness.
Overtraining significantly affects your stress hormones, including cortisol and epinephrine. This hormonal imbalance can cause mood swings, unusual irritability and an inability to concentrate.
5. Insomnia or restless sleep.
Sleep ideally provides the body time to rest and repair itself. Overproduction of stress hormones, as mentioned above, may not allow you to wind down or completely relax. This makes sleep much less effective which compounds chronic fatigue and moodiness.
6. Loss of appetite.
A hormone imbalance can also affect hunger and satiety mechanisms. More training should stimulate more appetite but the physiological exhaustion of OTS can actually lead to appetite suppression.
It can also go the other way and lead to a ravenous appetite.
7. Chronic or nagging injuries.
Overused muscles and joints can cause constant aches or joint pain. Pain that does not subside in ten days to two weeks (or so) should be considered a notable injury.
Overtraining taxes all of the body’s systems and also makes it more difficult to ward off infections. Thus, frequent illnesses and upper-respiratory tract infections (URTIs) are signs as well. Medical complications may also include low bone mineral density, low testosterone and other hormonal imbalances.
8. Metabolic imbalances.
Long-term low energy availability may lead to nutrient deficiencies, such as iron deficiency anemia, which have the potential to harm both health and performance. Medical complications can also involve the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, endocrine, nervous or reproductive systems (e.g., menstrual cycle disturbances in women).
Weight gain can be a side effect of over training. We think we are doing our bodies good, yet cortisol and adrenal hormones are out of control wreaking havoc on the waist line.
9. Psychological stress and/or depression.
Some people live for punishing workouts and grueling competitions. If this sounds like you, the inability to train or race (combined with an imbalance of hormones and lack of quality sleep) can significantly affect your psyche.
If you recognize these symptoms in yourself, seek the help of a physician or other health professional to seek help.There are personalized genetic approaches available now that clue you in to the type of exercise your body thrives on, your injury susceptibility, inflammation and connective tissue needs.
Make rest a part of your workout regimen.
A better approach is to follow a periodized training program that includes both active recovery and complete rest. Rest can be frustrating, but recognize that a day or two spent on the foam roller is better than a week or two with an injury that could have been avoided.
Recovery today not only allows for greater production tomorrow, but likely fewer missed training days over the next few months.
You may also enjoy: How to Stop Overtraining Syndrome (OTS)
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