Overtraining - Sabotaging Yourself

Overtraining is the act of putting so much stress on your body that it does not have time to properly rebuild, resulting in a performance decrease. It is not just a problem for those who have just gotten into fitness, but one that haunts those returning or currently in a fitness routine. Overtraining poses a major physical and mental hurdle to everyone, not just athletes. Overtraining when recognized early however is easily dealt with, lets look at causes first.

Causes

• Lifting/Running/Jogging/etc. every day: There is no rest so the body does not have time to rebuild
• Improper Nutrition: Your body is like an engine give it the best fuel and it will give you the most horsepower, torque, and efficiency
• Sleep Deprivation: Sleep is the most important form of rest, it is when your body does a majority of the rebuilding. Try to get 8-9 hours of sleep a night, no more no less.
• Workout Duration: You should not be spending more than an hour in the gym tops. What this means is that you are most likely trying to lift every muscle group each day or you are doing too many exercises for one muscle group. Learn split routines.

Symptoms

• Sickness/Runny Nose/Fever
• Lack of Energy
• Muscle/Joint Soreness
• Mood Swings
• Injury
• Loss of Endurance/Strength

These are alot of causes and symptoms but the solutions are all easy and apparent. Look back above at the causes and see how you could fix them so you prevent overtraining. You need to eat healthy, have rest days, sleep, and keep your workouts short (45mins-1hr) and to the point.