Are you Over Training? 5 Signs of Over Training

5 Signs of Over Training

Are you over training? These are 5 signs of over training. Are you noticing that working out seems to be becoming more like a task? It can be that this is a symptom of possible over training. Whatever training program you are involved in, there can be a period when you require a lot more rest versus training harder. Watch our video and click on our infographic to learn more.

Prevent Injury. Are you overtraining infographic.

Consistent lack of motivation

Signs of over training can include a lack of motivation for your exercise activity. Generally this can happen at any given time. It is normal to feel that you'd rather stay home and watch TV over heading to the gym and running on the treadmill. Usually once you get going, this lack of motivation tends to fade.

However if you are finding that your lack of motivation is more prolonged. For example for the last couple of weeks, exercise seems to have become a drag. It can be time to reevaluate your routine and potentially make a few tweaks to regain that motivation.

Gains have stalled or performance drops

You have noticed that the poundage you lift have topped off. For a few weeks and even months you were getting incremental and consistent gains weekly. Now, for some reason you have been stuck at a particular weight for a number of weeks. It can boggle your mind because you feel that you have been doing everything "right". You are eating well, resting, stretching etc....Yet you feel that you may have peaked. This is a common scenario.

This can extend to endurance athletes also. Maybe you have been finding that your times have leveled off on your runs. You are struggling to improve. These can be signs of over training.

Performance can also drop. A scenario can be that for weeks you have lifted a certain weight for a certain amount of repetitions but for some reason, you are unable to meet your usual repetitions. For example, you can be bench pressing 205 pounds for 10 repetitions but now you are only able to push out 8-9 repetitions. This can be mystifying because you know you are able to reach 10 repetitions but for some reason you are stuck.

This can also extend to multiple exercises in your routine. Be aware of multiple exercises being affected as it can be a significant sign of over training.

Recovery takes longer

If you are finding that it takes longer to recover from a workout it can be from over training. For many it can take a day and a half to 2 days to recover. If you have worked out for long enough and at a decent intensity, you probably encountered times when your recovery was slowed. It can happen from time to time. However, if you are noticing that your recovery is extending much longer than usual and it seems like it's happening more often, it can be time to analyse your routine.

Longer recovery can lead to injuries, especially if you continue with your routine. When it gets to this point, it is time to listen to your body. Your body is letting you know that it's time to pull back and focus on rest and recovery.

Difficulty sleeping

Signs of over training can also include difficulty with sleep. You can feel tired and fatigued but you will have difficulty sleeping. The reason this can happen is that when your body is in an over trained state your body over produces stress hormones. You are in a state of constant stress. You are more "wired". Thus, the issue with sleep.

I have a saying in regards to chronic injuries. "If you ain't sleeping, you ain't healing." Seems to be very basic but it is very true. The mistake many people make is that, they make the assumption is that they make their gains at the gym. When in fact, it is during the recovery phase that you make those gains.

If you lack sleep, you are also lacking in the recovery process and therefore can be prone to future injuries.

This is a key point in regards to over training. Make sure you attempt to correct this as quickly as possible.

More prone to injuries

When you are lacking sleep, and lacking recovery there is a chance that you can become injured. This is if you continue the way you are training without making adjustments.

You can find that your body or certain body parts seem to be more sore and for longer periods. It can be that there are certain pains that force you to change your mechanics further causing more potential for injuries.

Take over training seriously. Remind yourself that your training is a long term proposition. If you decide to gamble by ignoring the signs, you can end up with an injury that puts you on the shelf for a few weeks or even months. Imagine, all the gains you've made only to have to restart and try to attain those gains because you ignores your body.

What are some things you can do?

To correct the signs of over training, here are a few things that you can do. It can take a few adjustments and you can see the difference.

1. Take a couple of weeks to focus on rest. You can do light stretching and cardio on the days you train. It can be difficult especially if you are used to training but this will benefit you longer term.

2. Along with the rest, get treatment or two. As a Massage Therapist who performs treatments to the fascia and deep muscle work, I know the powerful benefits for rest and recovery.

3. Your routine can also get stale, maybe it's time to switch it up. In fact you can design your program in such a way that for every 4-6 weeks you change the focus of your training. For example, if you are in the weight room you can switch from heavier weights and a repetition scheme of 8-10 (this will focus more on hypertrophy, muscle growth) to a scheme where you focus on endurance and cutting down, using higher repetitions, maybe 15-20). This is just an example, in a future post, I will give more examples.

4. Take a look at your nutrition. Have you added or deleted something from your diet that has potentially affected your training? How is your sugar intake? Sugar can increase inflammation. Cutting it can result in decreased symptoms of inflammation.

These are just 4 things you can do. Try a few or all. This can help with preventing injuries and furthering your goal of long term gains.

More Resources:

Do you use the plank exercise for your core? Have you started noticing shoulder pain? It can be because of the way you are performing this exercise. Watch our video to learn more.

Discover what deep tissue massage can do. It can help with signs of over training. Please visit our clinic website.