Overtraining is when you exercise at an intensity or volume that exceeds your body’s ability to recover. This can creep up on you, so it’s important to know the signs!
Warning signs that you’ve been exercising too much:
– Muscle soreness that lasts longer than usual/doesn’t seem to go away
– Constant feeling of exhaustion
– Frequent irritability & mood swings
– Getting ill more often than usual
– Getting injured more often than usual
– Low to no motivation for exercise
– Disrupted sleep
– Constant hunger, even though you’re eating as normal
– Higher resting heart rate than usual
– Stalled progress within workouts (plateauing)
This is your body communicating that you’re doing too much, and not recovering properly between workouts. It’s not good for your progress OR your health.
If you think you’ve been overtraining, here’s what you can do: reduce the frequency & intensity of your workouts for at least a week. Heavily prioritise diet, hydration, rest, and sleep during this time to recover. Then adjust your workout routine to include more rest & recovery going forward.
If you don’t feel you’re doing enough to warrant “over-training” – perhaps you’re only doing 2-3 workouts a week, with 1-2 days of rest between them – then you need to look at your recovery protocols, as it’s likely in this case that you’re under-recovered. See this blog post for more on recovery.
Knowing the signs of overtraining means you can prevent burnout before it happens, enjoy better workouts and, most importantly, look after your health.🙏🏻
Conni Arnold Fitness 