Are you over-training? For most people exercising too little is the problem. Yet, there are people out there who exercise too much. Approaching exercise with the attitude that more is better is a definite recipe for disaster.
The problem behind exercising too much is that you are not giving your body adequate time to recover. Not allowing your body to recover can lead to many negative side effects that directly affect your fitness. Recognizing some of the warning signs is important to over-training.
#1 – Illness: When you overdo exercise over an extended period of time the strength of your immune system to battle illness will be reduced. In turn you may catch more colds and just feel sick more of the time.
#2 – Injuries: Similar to sickness, over-training may also make you more susceptible to injuring yourself. For example, if you exercise your legs too frequently, you may potentially run the risk of having a leg related injury. By not allowing your muscles enough time to recover you will eventually make them weaker and more susceptible to becoming injured.
#3 – Decreased performance: Although you may think that the more you train, the better results you will get, over-training will have the opposite effect. For example, if strength training is done too frequently without adequate rest over the weeks, then you will notice your strength actually decrease. The same can be said for endurance activities like running, swimming and cycling. Without proper recovery between sessions athletes may find their results decrease, rather than improve.
Steps to avoid over training:
#1 – Listen to aches and pains: The human body is very good at telling you when it has had enough. Of course, exercise can be intense and strenuous, but the trick is to reading your body so you know when to ease up. Listening to your body may take time to figure out, but the more experience you get, the better you will become at judging when enough is enough. It is best to always ere on the side of doing a little bit less, rather than too much.
#2 – Take at least one day off per week: No one can exercise everyday. Even professional athletes need time to recuperate physically as well as psychologically. Make sure to take at least one day off per week so that your body can rest.
#3 – Eat well: Proper nutrition will do wonders for preventing over-training. Feed your body highly processed foods with low nutritional value and you will quickly see how your performance will be affected.
#4 – Sleep: Try to get into the habit of sleeping seven to eight hours per night. Maintaining a consistent sleep pattern will allow your body to recover properly so you will be able to continually exercise while preventing symptoms of over-training.
