Tips To Avoid Overtraining
Most people fail to get adequate exercise, but a small group tries to overachieve and ends up overtraining. There are reasons you should avoid overtraining, such as loss of muscle mass, reduced immunity, and total exhaustion. When you do exercises like strength training, it makes micro tears in the muscles. Those take 48-72 hours to heal and make the muscle stronger. If you work the muscles too hard before they heal, it diminishes the muscle size and strength. While you should push hard, there are limits and a right way and wrong way to get fit.
People want quicker results, but exercising for hours daily isn’t how to get it.
The amount of time you should spend working out has many variables. Your age, the intensity of the workout, and your goal are three. Your body can handle longer workouts if you’re training for competition and already fit. Younger bodies can also tolerate longer ones. The key is how you feel. If you’ve worked out beyond your energy level, it can cause sloppiness in form. That can lead to injury. If you exercise for 24 hours that’s spread out over a month, it can provide many benefits. Trying to do it in one day doesn’t.
You need a full day of rest or active recovery if you’re doing intense workouts.
Working out helps burn stress hormones, but intense workouts can cause stress. Working at peak intensity too frequently and for too long increases the flow of cortisol which can affect your health. It diminishes the body’s immune system, affects your performance, and can take a toll on mood. If you work out at peak intensity every day, you’ll start losing ground. Instead, plan one or two days of intense workouts each week followed by active recovery the next day.
How can you tell if you’re overtraining?
There are tell-tale signs, and the easiest to identify is your heart rate. A higher-than-normal resting heart rate is a sure sign of overexercising. If your mood is usually good and suddenly you’re tired all the time and cranky, it’s another sign. Anxiety, depression, confusion, and reaching exhaustion quicker are all signs you need to take a break.
- Get plenty of rest when you start an exercise program. You need a good night’s sleep after a workout to allow your body to heal. If you’re having a problem with insomnia, it can also be a sign of overexercising.
- Learning meditation, deep breathing exercises, and relaxation techniques can help reduce the effect if you find yourself overtraining. They help reduce the stress from overtraining.
- Lack of appetite is one sign of overtraining, but so is weight gain. Overtraining can decrease the hormones from the thyroid gland that cause weight gain.
- Since everyone is different, getting the help of a personal trainer can be beneficial. The trainer will help you find the sweet spot where you maximize the benefits of exercise without overtraining.
For more information, contact us today at Thrive Fitness!