Over Training!

Following on from last week I decided to write about the symptoms of over training. Some people start exercising and then they begin to enjoy it so much that they just can’t stop!

There is such a thing as ‘exercise addiction’ which falls under the same category as other addictions such as smoking and chocolate and drinking!

Although it is not as harmful as the other addictions, exercise addiction usually begins when people start feeling guilty if they don’t train or if they don’t burn off a particular amount of calories each day/week!

Over training essentially occurs when the volume and intensity of your training sessions exceeds that of what your body is capable of. It is a common problem usually found in weight training where not enough rest is given between training days but is also found in runners and other athletes.

Symptoms of over training would include:

• your strength increases will start to decline or come to a plateau
• you will constantly feel fatigued
• depression
• unable to sleep
• constantly feel exhausted
• more likely to catch flu and colds
• loss of motivation
• decreased appetite
• muscles soreness remains longer than usual
• headaches and moodiness
• pain in muscles and joints
• lack of energy

So, if you begin to feel one ore more of these symptoms coming on it is your bodies way of telling you to rest!!

Once you feel rested and rearing to go you can return to the gym but remember to take it easy!