{"id":353502,"date":"2010-02-23T12:17:41","date_gmt":"2010-02-23T17:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marksdailyapple.com\/?p=10976"},"modified":"2010-02-23T12:17:41","modified_gmt":"2010-02-23T17:17:41","slug":"8-signs-you-are-overtraining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/353502","title":{"rendered":"8 Signs You Are Overtraining"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ExerciseWhen you spend some time among the ever-growing circle of evolutionary-based health writers, thinkers, bloggers, and doctors<\/a>, you notice a curious thing happening. Conventional Wisdom<\/a> is becoming turned on its head<\/a>. Saturated fat<\/a> is generally healthy and excessive endurance training<\/a> is generally unhealthy become the presiding narratives. Grains<\/a> are either unnecessary or have the tendency to attack the gut lining, even guts with \u201cclinically undetectable levels of sensitivity.\u201d You don\u2019t need six square meals a day to keep your metabolism up and running, after all; one or two a day will do just fine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Less is more \u2013 as far as exercise goes \u2013 is becoming another accepted truth, especially when you understand that 80% of your body composition<\/a> is determined by how you eat.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

If you dial the diet in (Primal Blueprint<\/a>, of course), you just don\u2019t need to \u201cburn off\u201d tons of excess calories with a lot of hard work. Yet many people are still tied to that assumption and ride that fine line between training enough to maximize strength and unnecessarily reaching too far. Overtraining is a very real danger for those engaged in physical culture. In fact, while the majority of this country (and of many others) suffers from a massive physical activity deficit, a sizeable portion of my readers faces the opposite danger. Understanding exactly how much to exercise can be tricky. No activity is worse than some, while too much may be worse than none at all. The ideal lies somewhere in between \u2013 though not necessarily in the middle, but rather smack dab in the \u201cjust enough\u201d section. <\/strong>Can \u201cjust enough\u201d be quantified? Perhaps it could be quantified using a battery of round-the-clock tests and measurements of anabolic and catabolic hormones, various serum concentrations, lactate build-up, cortisol:testosterone ratios, etc, but that would be expensive, unwieldy, and completely individualized. These types of objective measurements, ironically, would be more subjective than anything else; you couldn\u2019t accurately extrapolate an overtraining threshold for the entire population from a single trainee\u2019s results.<\/p>\n

People are unique. Sure, nutritional requirements for human physiology adhere to a set of overarching principles<\/a>, yet a single, universally specific macronutrient profile cannot be nailed down for all humans. In the end, each of us must craft his or her own identity, plan, regimen, and discover his or her own weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and sensitivities.<\/strong> In short, we must each become our own test subject<\/a> (as well as astute observer) if we wish to optimize our health and our fitness. The concept of overtraining is similar. There\u2019s a clinical definition \u2013 a state of chronic fatigue, depression, and underperformance that persists despite rest \u2013 and there\u2019s a more general, working definition \u2013 a basic imbalance between work and recovery. Overtraining can also be highly personal and goal-dependent. Overtraining might describe anytime your training is working against you, and where adding more of it makes the problem worse. If you want to avoid overtraining, there are some grand, overarching principles to follow, but you\u2019ll also want to pay attention to certain personal, entirely subjective cues.<\/p>\n

What follows is my basic list of signs that indicate you may be overtraining. Some are objective measures, while others derive from my own personal experiences with overtraining. There are overlaps, and I\u2019ve probably missed more than a few, but I\u2019m confident what\u2019s listed will be invaluable to anyone who trains, and trains hard.<\/p>\n

1. You repeatedly fail to complete your normal workout.<\/h4>\n

I\u2019m not talking about normal failure. Some people train to failure as a rule, and that\u2019s fine. I\u2019m talking failure to lift the weights you usually lift, run the hill sprints you usually run, and complete the hike you normally complete. Regression. If you\u2019re actively getting weaker, slower, and your stamina is deteriorating despite regular exercise, you\u2019re probably training too much. Note, though, that this isn\u2019t the same as deloading. Pushing yourself to higher weights and failing at those is a normal part of progression, but if you\u2019re unable to lift weights that you formerly handled with relative ease, you may be overtrained.<\/p>\n

2. You\u2019re losing leanness despite increased exercise.<\/h4>\n

If losing fat was as easy as burning calories by increasing work output, overtraining would never result in fat gain \u2013 but that isn\u2019t the case. It\u2019s about the hormones. Sometimes, working out too much can actually cause muscle wasting and fat deposition. You\u2019re \u201cburning calories,\u201d probably more than ever before, but it\u2019s predominantly glucose\/glycogen and precious muscle tissue. Net effect: you\u2019re getting less lean. The hormonal balance has been tipped. You\u2019ve been overtraining, and the all-important testosterone:cortisol ratio is lopsided. Generally speaking, a positive T:C ratio means more muscle and less fat, while a negative ratio means you\u2019re either training too much, sleeping too little, or some combination of the two. Either way, too much cortisol<\/a> will increase insulin resistance and fat deposition, especially around the midsection. Have you been working out like a madman only to see your definition decrease? You\u2019re probably overtraining.<\/p>\n

3. You\u2019re lifting\/sprinting\/HIITing hard every single day.<\/h4>\n

The odd genetic freak could conceivably lift heavy, sprint fast, and engage in metabolic conditioning nearly every day of the week and adequately recover, without suffering ill effects. Chances are, however, you are not a genetic freak with Wolverine\u2019s healing factor. Most people who maintain such a hectic physical schedule will not recover (especially if they have a family and\/or a job). Performance will suffer, health will deteriorate, and everything they\u2019ve worked to achieve will be compromised. Many professional athletes can practice for hours a day every day and see incredible results (especially if they are using performance enhancing substances), but you\u2019re not a professional, are you?<\/p>\n

4. You\u2019re primarily an anaerobic\/power\/explosive\/strength athlete, and you feel restless, excitable, and unable to sleep in your down time.<\/h4>\n

When a sprinter or a power athlete overtrains, the sympathetic nervous system dominates. Symptoms include hyperexcitability, restlessness, and an inability to focus (especially on athletic performance), even while at rest or on your off day<\/a>. Sleep is generally disturbed in sympathetic-dominant overtrained athletes, recovery slows, and the resting heart rate remains elevated. Simply put, the body is reacting to a chronically stressful situation by heightening the sympathetic stress system\u2019s activity levels. Most PBers who overtrain will see their sympathetic nervous system afflicted, simply because they lean toward the high-intensity, power, strength side.<\/p>\n

5. You\u2019re primarily an endurance athlete, and you feel overly fatigued, sluggish, and useless.<\/h4>\n

Too much resistance training can cause sympathetic overtraining; too much endurance work can cause parasympathetic overtraining, which is characterized by decreased testosterone levels, increased cortisol levels, debilitating fatigue (both mental and physical), and a failure to lose body fat. While I tend to advise against any appreciable amount of endurance training, chronic fatigue remains an issue worthy of repeating. Being fit enough to run ten miles doesn\u2019t mean that you now have to do it every day.<\/p>\n

6. Your joints, bones, or limbs hurt.<\/h4>\n

I\u2019m unaware of any clinical tests that can identify overuse injuries specifically caused by overtraining, but don\u2019t you think that pain in your knee might be an indication that you should reassess how you exercise that knee? In the lifts, limb pain can either be DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness<\/a>) or it can indicate poor technique or improper form; DOMS is a natural response that should go away in a day or two, while poor form is more serious and can be linked to overuse or overtraining. With regard to endurance training, if you creak, you wince at every step, and you dread staircases, it may be that you\u2019ve run too far or too hard for too long. The danger here is that your daily endorphin high has over-ridden your natural pain receptors. You should probably listen to them more acutely. I tuned them out for longer than I should have and it cost me my career as a marathoner (so I got that going for me, which is nice).<\/p>\n

7. You\u2019re suddenly falling ill a lot more often.<\/h4>\n

Many things can compromise your immune system. Dietary changes (especially increased sugar intake), lack of Vitamin D\/sunlight, poor sleep habits, mental stress are all usual suspects, but what if those are all locked in and stable? What if you\u2019re eating right, getting plenty of sun, and enjoying a regular eight hours of solid sleep each night, but you find yourself getting sick? Nothing too serious, mind you. A nagging cough here, a little sniffle or two there, some congestion and a headache, perhaps. These were fairly normal before you went Primal, but they\u2019ve returned. Your immune system may be suffering from the added stress of your overtraining. It\u2019s an easy trap to fall into, simply because it\u2019s often the natural progression for many accomplished athletes or trainees looking to increase their work or improve their performance: work harder, work longer. If you\u2019ve recently increased your exercise output, keep track of those early morning sore throats and sneezes. Any increases may indicate a poor immune system brought on by overtraining.<\/p>\n

8. You feel like crap the hours and days after a big workout.<\/h4>\n

Once you get into the swing of things, one of the great benefits of exercise is the post-workout feeling of wellness. You\u2019ve got the big, immediate, heady rush of endorphins during and right after a session, followed by that luxurious, warm glow that infuses your mind and body for hours (and even days). It\u2019s the best feeling, isn\u2019t it? We all love it. What if that glow never comes, though? What if instead of feeling energetic and enriched after a workout, you feel sketchy and uncomfortable? As I said before, post-workout DOMS is completely normal, but feeling like death (mentally and physically) is not. Exercise generally elevates mood; if it\u2019s having a negative effect on your mood, it\u2019s probably too much.<\/p>\n

How about you, readers? Do you have any tried-and-true indicators that your body has had more than it can handle? Let me know, and check back next week for information on how to avoid, mitigate, and respond to overtraining.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Get Free Health Tips, Recipes and Workouts<\/a> Delivered to Your Inbox<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/h4>\n

Related posts:<\/p>\n

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  1. How to Deal with Overtraining<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Drink up: Red Wine Ingredient Reduces Signs of Aging<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Dear Mark: Primal Compromises for Athletes<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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