6 Ways to Tell If You Are Overtraining

When most athletes, from novice to experienced, begin to train for a particular event, and they do so with extreme commitment and discipline. The best intentions drive these people to train as hard as possible to make sure that the day of competition will go smoothly and successfully. In essence, they workout with only the end goal in mind, allowing their process to be one that revolves philosophically around an endless need to stress the body to make it reach its maximum physical potential. However, what too often gets overlooked represents the most critical element in a person's muscular and cardiovascular development: rest.

Recovery following hard training sessions can determine just how much that person will actually benefit from the work invested. While proper and timely post-training nutrition helps, the body truly requires adequate time to shut down and grow. Muscles, broken down and fatigued from the workout, long for time to regenerate and reset themselves. Disallowing this critical respite not only makes future sessions less productive as the body lacks the fuel and strength to maintain intensity, but it also infiltrates the athlete mentally, creating psychological obstacles to progression that make the training feel more laborious and difficult rather than stimulating.

While crafting your workout plan, over the course of weeks or months, always schedule rest days and recovery weeks. Each week should contain at least one day of complete rest where the body has no stress placed upon it. Likewise, every third or fourth week should represent a recovery space-a place that eases the training back and possesses a goal of maintaining stamina while resting the body.

However, despite the best constructed plans, sometimes the body requires more, and it will tell you. Listen closely to what your body communicates to you, and get to know its patterns and limitations. Although you never want to succumb to excuses, as this will never allow you to really make the strides needed athletically, you should not overestimate what your body can do at that given moment. If you are being honest with yourself and your efforts during training, you will understand the difference between being lazy and lethargy, being tired and true fatigue.

If you feel that you may be suffering from overtraining, consult the following list for general signs.

• You experience difficulty sleeping. Whether falling asleep, waking too early, or sleeping restlessly, these troubles could show your body reaching out to tell you to take a break. Remember that although your body cannot verbalize its feelings, it can and will send stern messages, which you need to listen to closely.
• You begin to feel extreme soreness that does not stop like usual. Muscles lose the ability to bounce back when you have stressed them beyond their limitations. This pain, which will feel entirely different--usually in its intensity and duration--from normal post-training tightness, represents a clear indication that you need to rest.
• You notice a rapid weight loss. While some people will enjoy seeing the pounds melt off, weight lost too fast can place the person in danger. Normal weight loss occurs gradually, allowing the body a healthy transition into its new form. During training, you should check your weight regularly to watch for such happenings. Any large dip in weight should remind you to consider your workout planning and recovery designations.
• Like checking your daily weight, you should get into the habit of taking your morning pulse. Heart rate often helps to indicate stress on the body. If your morning heart rate spikes and jumps substantially, you should scale back on the workouts. Either find a complete day or two of rest or minimize your workouts to eliminate increased intensity and promote recovery.
• You see a prolonged plateau in your times. When you begin training, generally speaking you will see considerable gains in rather short periods as the body makes significant progress early. The goal is to keep the body fresh enough to avoid a stalemate where it cannot improve. Overdoing the volume of training, not necessarily the intensity, can place the body into an athletic funk, obstructing it from any form of consistency.
• You misplace your motivation to continue. When the body's fatigue impacts the psychological approach of the athlete, the person must reflect on the training structure. Exercise in general normally makes people happier, yet when overdone it can work counterproductively, creating a person who acts irritated and tired. Loss of motivation and premature irritation are sure signs of the need to slow it down and rest.

Thus, although you may want to make as much progress as you can in the shortest amount of time, know that a slow, consistent pace with important rest days will enhance your experience and leave you stronger and more fit in the end. Fight the urge to try and get into competition shape in a week. Plan ahead, give yourself ample time, listen to what your body tells you, and enjoy the results.

Sources:

Hulaman.com