When you exercise without giving yourself enough rest time between sessions, overtraining may result.
Excessive exercise can harm your mental health and hinder your progress, mainly if you schedule your workouts closely together.
OTS ( Overtraining syndrome ) can impair your fitness level, negatively impact your performance, and result in injuries.
Exercise-related symptoms like HIIT, aerobics, and weightlifting can all result in burnout.
It’s also common for athletes who specialize in one sport.
You may prevent overtraining by exercising within your limits and giving yourself enough time to recover between exercises.
Take care of yourself after each training volume, and make sure to fuel your efforts, so you have the energy to continue exercising.
What is Overtraining?
Overtraining is “pushing your body beyond its ability to recover from exercise.”
It occurs when the amount or intensity of training you’re doing starts to exceed your body’s ability to recover.
This can lead to a decrease in performance, injuries, and burnout.
Signs of Overtraining
Here are ten general symptoms of overtraining:
1. You’re working out too often
If you’re working out more than four times a week, chances are you’re overtraining.
Remember, your body needs time to recover between workouts to get stronger.
Working out too often will exhaust your body and prevent it from healing properly.
2. You’re not giving yourself enough rest
Rest is an essential part of any workout regimen. Not only does it allow your body to recover from your previous workout, but it also gives your muscles time to grow stronger.
You’re probably overtraining if you’re not giving yourself at least 48 hours of rest between workouts.
3. You’re not sleeping enough
You could find it challenging to unwind and let go of tension before night if your stress hormones are out of balance.
This interferes with your body’s essential time to sleep to rest, heal, and renew itself.
Chronic fatigue and mood swings can both result from poor sleep quality.
4. You’re not eating enough calories
Working out expends a lot of energy and can increase your appetite.
If you’re not eating enough calories to fuel your workouts, your body will start breaking down muscle for energy instead of building it up. How many calories you need depends on your weight, height, age, and activity level.
Carbs are essential for endurance athletes, and protein is vital for athletes relying on muscular strength and power.
Make sure you’re eating enough food to support your workout routine.
5. You’ve stopped seeing results
If you’ve been working out regularly but have stopped seeing results, it’s a sign that you may be overtraining.
Your body adapts quickly to changes in activity level, so if you want to keep seeing results, you need to mix up your routine frequently.
Otherwise, you’ll reach a plateau and stop making progress altogether.