How to Recognize the Symptoms of overtraining – 17 important signs

19 December 2011 No Comment

Quote of the day: Morpheus: If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain

Before you can take action in response to warning signs of overstraining, you need to know what signs to look for. While the following symptoms are accurate for the typical non-competitive trainee, including those who are advanced, the very advanced and competitive elite may exhibit different symptoms of overstraining. This list is not presented as an exhaustive study.
1. Stagnated training poundages, perhaps even before you have reached
your most recent best training weights. One or two bad workouts do
not necessarily mean you are overtrained. All people have the occasional
bad workout that should be written off. But when you have three or four
consecutive bad workouts, then you are almost certainly overtrained.
2. Reduced enthusiasm for training, i.e., not looking forward to training as
much as usual, and having trouble getting a workout finished without
cutting corners. (This could be caused by out-of-the-gym distractions,
not necessarily overtraining.)
3. A body that is more tired and sore than it usually is in the days following
training. You will not bounce back from the healthy feeling of
fatigue that follows a great workout. And despite perhaps sleeping more
than usual you still feel drained.
4. Even though you feel very tired you may have trouble getting to sleep
and /or have trouble getting back to sleep when awoken during the
night.
5. An increasing number of minor aches and pains, and ones that do not
heal.
6. Reduced appetite and food intake.
g. Reduced level of concentration during each set.
7. Being more irritable and less patient in your life in general.
8. Being anxious about your training not going well.
9. Feeling under the weather.
10. Getting frequent colds.
11. Diminished endurance—formerly moderate-intensity aerobic work
starts feeling quite demanding. The perceived exertion from the aerobic
exercise increases.
12. Legs feel heavy, in and out of the gym, and all activities seem to involve
more effort than previously.
13. Increased resting heart rate.
14. Increased diastolic blood pressure.
15. An inclination for corner cutting in any training-related issue, including
your nutrition.
16. Losing interest in reading training magazines and books.
17. Many of the above can be the result of out-of-the-gym factors. Even in those cases
it is still wise to back off to a reduced training intensity until your life and recovery
machinery are back to normal.
Be totally honest with yourself. Discover if you have any of the symptoms of overtraining. You probably suffer from at least several of the symptoms. If so, face the fact that you are overtrained and need to adjust your training so the symptoms of overtraining do not persist. Do not be guilty of denial. You will not increase your muscle and might through overtraining! Local soreness and systemic fatigue are part and parcel of training. There is, however, a huge difference between post-workout systemic fatigue that is a high from training, and the fatigue that is almost debilitating. To train hard, and have a shower followed by a good meal, leaves a sense of achievement and worked feeling that is a joy. To beat yourself into the ground once you
are already tired and dragging yourself around, as in the overtrained state, produces no post-workout high.