Have you ever though you are exercising too much and are tired and achy even before you've begun your first workout of the week? Heard of overtraining?
Overtraining is the downside of working out too hard and too often - you try and squeeze in extra workouts, skip days off, lift heavier weights and before you know it, your enthusiasm sabotages your efforts.
Exercising too much is actually fairly common - especially when combined with athletics or sports like football or rugby. So how can you spot overtraining before it happens? We explain the signs and symptoms that can warn you of an imminent meltdown.
If you train hard, you need to be aware of the dangers of overtraining. While not inevitable, overtraining is a danger for anyone who pushes hard five, six, even seven days per week.
And when hard training veers into overtraining there are a number of potential problems :
- Lack of progress (in fact your training may go backwards)
- Increased risk of injury
- Sickness (from lowered immune system)
- Poor performance in competition
- Burnout - you quit!
In order to avoid overtraining, you need to be aware of the signs and symptoms. Fortunately, there are clear warning signs if you are overtraining, and an awareness of these will enable you to back off before injury strikes or you become totally burned out.
