Working out and training will keep you fit and can help you live a better life. You will lose weight, gain muscle, increase blood flow, and sleep better. Doing exercise in moderation is important; however, too much of it may lead to severe problems like muscle aches and troubling heartbeats. Here are ten signs of overtraining to help you know when to slow down.
1. Muscles Soreness
Physical training involves working most of the muscles in the body. When you put too much stress on the muscle, it leads to soreness. You feel sharp pains that can cause serious discomfort.
There is also something called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, or DOMS. After a new activity, DOMs begin within 6-8 hours and may last for two days.
Staying a few days away from the gym will allow your muscle to heal (1). Once you get back into better performance, you can restart your training sessions.
2. Insatiable Taste
Unquenchable thirst, corresponding with an increase in gym time, might be due to overtraining. During exercise, your body tends to consume a lot of fluids. If you train too much, then more water from your body is lost to the atmosphere.
That’s when you begin to feel this intense taste that won’t go away. You will need to satisfy your taste and, at the same time, reduce your exercise time. Apart from dealing with dehydration, you also need plenty of sleep to heal.
3. Depression
Working out has an impact on your mood in so many ways. Exercise causes so many things to happen in our bodies. A slight hormonal imbalance due to overtraining can cause depression. To guard against such a situation:
- Take note of any intense negative feelings. You should also note that depression manifests in different ways in each individual.
- Take note of the time after training that you begin to feel tired.
- Create a new training schedule that allows you to achieve success easily.
4. Injury
Your body breaks down certain parts of your muscle while you train. To improve your performance, you will need to allow the muscle to rest and recover.
Most people who do too much training don’t have time to rest. So, muscles that didn’t have a break won’t heal, and then they will break.
Overtraining injuries can be severe and risky, especially for professional athletes. It can lead to a severe condition where they have to go for surgery.
How do you avoid overtraining injuries? Gradual progression is a key to excellent results in exercising, so take note not to overdo it.
Take it slow and manage expectations while also listening to your body. Fuel up with essential nutrients that contain vegetables, grains, and calcium.
5. Insomnia
During sleep, your body produces hormones that facilitate muscle building. Insomnia is one of the top signs of overtraining. It can be detrimental to your heal.
You may also experience less success in your training during this period.
If you suspect overtraining is the reason for your insomnia, then you have to make changes. First, focus on getting your 10 pm to 2 pm nights of sleep because that’s when healing happens. You should then reduce your training period and create opportunities for relaxation.
6. Stalled Progress In Gym
Everyone who is training is expecting to make progress. What most people don’t know is that overtraining is counterproductive.
Your muscles stop growing, and you’re losing energy. Once your progress stops, you’ll start having issues with depression. The lack of motivation also creeps in.
If you suspect overtraining is making your workout weak then, take a rest immediately. Find the time to re-strategize and focus more on step-by-step success.
If you have to change the gym or your training partners, then do so. Don’t allow people to influence you in a way that will hurt your health and happiness.
7. Loss Of Appetite
Your appetite regulatory system is the key to creating balance in the way you eat. When you over-train, this system experience stress and then disrupts hormonal activities.
The result is a terrible feeling that causes loss of appetite. Why do you have to worry? If your body can’t get enough nutrients, then you won’t experience muscle growth.
Also, your body uses up vitamins and minerals during exercise, which you need to replenish. To improve your appetite, you need to get good sleep and rest your body. Internal healing has the power to trigger your body to desire more food.
8. Fatigue
One of the significant signs of overtraining you should never ignore is fatigue. Excessive training causes your muscle to break. And that leads to tiredness and weakness that you can’t stop. Fatigue occurs when your muscle runs out of energy, leaving you to scramble for survival.
Also, your central nervous system finds it hard to control the movement of your muscle (2). Because of this, you get exhausted and can’t even work out anymore.
To overcome fatigue, you need to eat well and sleep well. If you take caffeine and alcohol, you need to take a break for a while.
9. Loss Of Motivation
We need motivation and courage to do almost everything in life. Physical training is tedious, so it’s easy to lose interest.
Overtraining can cause low sex drive, anxiety, increased stress, irritability, and so on. As you deal with these issues, you begin to feel less inspired to get back to the gym.
You can fight a lack of motivation by redefining your goals and repositioning yourself. Have a new purpose for your training, and get yourself going again. Reduce your gym time and spend some time resting and healing.
10. Metabolic Imbalances
Your body metabolism going out of control are signs of overtraining. The human metabolism system keeps you active and healthy in every condition.
Unfortunately, too much exercise can mess with the balance of your body system. You begin to get tired often as your body finds it hard to break down food.
It will help if you give yourself time to relax and enjoy your workout rather than overworking yourself to a halt.
Eat food rich in protein and vitamins to replenish your body. Sleep well and find the time to enjoy yourself, to put your body and mind in proper shape.
