Overtraining – How To Let Yourself Go #5
Posted on | July 2, 2008 | 7 Comments
|
Too much is not enough? Not really. When it comes to exercise, too much of it can be very detrimental to your progress.
When you exercise excessively, a real danger exists of making friends with overtraining syndrome.
Overtraining syndrome is generally characterized by
- Poor performance(can’t lift as much, run as far/fast, weakness)
- Inability to maintain training loads
- Persistent fatigue
- Reduced catecholamine excretion(Catecholamines cause general physiological changes that prepare the body for physical activity (fight-or-flight response). Some typical effects are increases in heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose levels, and a general reaction of the sympathetic nervous system.)
- Frequent illness
- Disturbed sleep
- Alterations in mood state
Sounds like fun? I thought so.
Increasing your workout volume and intensity without proper rest and recovery will lead to overtraining. If not careful, entering Overtraining-Land will lead to down the path of frustration, misery, and pain; making it impossible to get rid of ’stubborn’ fat.
What do to:
- Prevent overtraining
- Listen to your body – pay attention to your mood, fatigue, soreness and performance.
- Make sure to cycle your training
- Get proper rest and recovery. Sleep at least 8 hours a night
- Keep stress to a minimum and think happy thoughts
- Ensure quality nutrition
Sources:
1. Immunology & Cell Biology. 78(5):502-509, October 2000.
2. Journal of Sports Sciences, Volume 13, Issue S1 Summer 1995 , pages S41 – S48
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catecholamine
Popularity: 7% [?]
Comments
7 Responses to “Overtraining – How To Let Yourself Go #5”
Leave a Reply
July 2nd, 2008 @ 7:20 pm
Good list of overtraining symptoms. One thing to keep in mind is that overtraining takes weeks to reach. It’s an individual response and some signs can start showing up as over-reaching.
There’s no magic formula as in number of days, sets, reps that determines eventual over-training. Each person has to find their optimal training levels.
All too often I see somebody post.. “I train X days a week and do this many sets.”
The next response is “you are over-training”
Which is incorrect. As you listed, it’s symptoms and not something that is so cut and dry.
July 3rd, 2008 @ 2:05 am
Denis,
Good post here. I’m currently struggling with overtraining. I’m increasing my training in MMA and BJJ as well as working weights, kettlebells, heavy bag, etc.
This is a significant increase in my training volume.
Any thoughts on helping the body adapt to the increased volume. I expect I’ll adapt to the increased workload and improve my conditioning sooner rather than later. In the mean time, it’s a lot of food and a lot of sleep.
My biggest challenge has been mood issues and low motivation at this point.
Adam
July 3rd, 2008 @ 5:55 am
[...] Overtraining – How To Let Yourself Go #5 [...]
July 3rd, 2008 @ 6:00 pm
@Adam – cycle volume and intensity. If you’re training 5/week, do this:
Day1: hard
Day2: easy or medium
Day3: easy
Day4: hard
Day5: medium
It is also highly recommended to have an easy week every 5-6 weeks.
Week1: hard
Week2: medium/hard
Week3: hard
Week4: medium/hard
Week5: hard
Week6: easy – do light workouts/walk
Also, as Marc David mentioned in his comment – overtraining has symptoms. Listen to your body, keep a training journal and adjust workout load/intensity accordingly.
Let me know how it goes.
July 5th, 2008 @ 12:06 pm
[...] danger exists of making friends with overtraining syndrome.Overtraining syndrome is generally charahttp://workoutiq.com/blog/2008/07/02/overtraining-how-to-let-yourself-go-5/Features associated with excessive exercise in women with eating disordersFeatures Associated With [...]
July 18th, 2008 @ 10:05 pm
[...] easy to overdo and overtrain(read about Overtraining). Always listen to your [...]
July 28th, 2008 @ 10:55 pm
[...] Workout 2. Can’t Afford to Workout 3. Forgetting To Workout 4. Choosing Routine Over Results 5. Overtraining 6. Having Unrealistic Expectations 7. Not Committing To Your Health and Indecision 8. Fear of [...]