Who doesn’t want to look fit and healthy? It has now become part of our lives that we indulge in physical fitness and keep ourselves going throughout the day. Physical training is a sort of session for some which they perform every day at a scheduled time.
People who are more actively into physical training are either sports athletes or are part of any physical activity that requires them to be physically training for being on top of their game. Although being involved in physical fitness is a good habit for your health, can you tell if you are overdoing it?
Yes! There are times when you can stretch your physical training to excess, and it goes out of the limits. Whenever one is practicing any physical activity, they must take a break in between their session and not keep doing their workout session on a stretch without giving their body the needed time to rest and recover.
The excessive performing of physical training or any workout routine can lead to Overtraining Syndrome (OTS) that could cause a drop in your fitness levels, diminish the performance and results of your fitness training, and lead to several injuries.
It is necessary to give your body enough time to recover from your previous session and fuel yourself with proper food and energy for beginning the next routine. Muscle tear or injuries is readily evident in athletes whose physical training, such as weightlifting, leads to burnout, wear, and tear.
Here are some of the symptoms of Overtraining Syndrome you should know about and observe whether you are going down that road.
Symptoms for Overtraining Syndrome
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The strain on the muscles causing pain
There is a training routine which requires your high performance, and this wants a proper break or interval between fitness activity. The continuous performance in such training could be an excessive strain on your muscle. Putting extra stress on your body causes a minor tear in your muscles, developing injuries.
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Feeling of Fatigue
The feeling of tiredness is bound to occur after you have completed your workout, but when this tired feeling concerts into fatigue, it indicates something serious. It is probably you overtraining your way without providing your body the proper break to recover its strength.
The strength is derived when you add fuel into your body pre-workout session by eating a healthy meal. But if there are no breaks and drain your body, the system starts using up the reserved carbohydrates, proteins, and other nutrients to fuel up energy inside the body.
If you start feeling fatigued more than you should post-your workout session, you should consider limiting your physical training to provide your body with proper rest.
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Eating less than required.
If you are into any physical training that is part of your daily activity, you might be cutting your calorie intake daily for a fit body. But remember that not eating enough would mean that your system is using all the reserved energy in the body to help you perform your best during the workout routine.
When all the reserved energy is used up, it could cause energy deficiency in you, leading to anemia and several other diseases or conditions such as gastrointestinal, cardiovascular disease, or problems in the reproductive system such as irregular menstrual cycle.
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Performance level reduction
The more you tire your body, the more increasingly your performance would diminish concerning your training. There are no more fruitful results of your workout as your body tires easily, and there isn’t any strength or agility left in you.
You will perform the best till the time you provide your body the required interval for resting, providing it with fuel for energy from time to time. When you only stress for fitness sessions rather than taking care of your body post those sessions, there won’t be the results you are looking or expecting for.
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Sleeping Disorder
Usually, when regressive training tires your body, the stress hormones go out of balance, making it difficult for you to get proper sleep at a time. It makes it difficult for your body to relax and repair itself out of the distressed zone, providing comfort through rest.
Instead, you find it difficult to fall asleep at night, and no proper sleep diminishes your health overall with several diseases equipped to you.
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Poor Immunity causing Illness
Just because your body always feels tired and worn out due to Overtraining Syndrome, it might be possible that you suddenly begin getting more sick than usual. It happens so because your immunity is affected by all the stress you have developed for your body. There are also chances of developing upper respiratory Tract Infection too in such cases.
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Less motivated lately and gaining of weight.
As your performance reduces due to your body becoming too tired of the strain you put up on due to overtraining, you become less interested in performing your routine because you do not receive the desired performance. Hence, you begin losing your motivation more and more.
A source has also mentioned that too much exercise without proper breaks or rest in between leads to low testosterone levels in your body and increased cortisol levels, a stress hormone. Whenever there is a sudden change in hormones, it could cause excessive weight gain and muscle tissue loss.
There are chances of other signs, such as irritation due to change or increase of stress hormone leading to mood changes or depression. In other cases, the overtraining syndrome might be observed by people who have a long period of muscle pain or any chronic injuries which do not come to heal with time.
The only option left would be to provide yourself with the necessary rest after the workout session or between them for at least 30 seconds to 5 minutes. Schedule a day for actively resting where there would be no physical activity involved, even if it is walking small steps. Try relaxing and reducing the tightness of your muscles.
In case of excessive stress on your body, you could choose to massage the areas that feel painful or sore gently. If your muscle soreness, feeling of fatigue, or pain due to any prolonged injury does not come to heal itself, better talk to your doctor. An expert would guide you better with your fitness plan and help you create a good fitness routine based on your goal with proper intervals amidst the same.