How Not to Overtrain During Exercise

Are you training too hard and putting yourself at risk of injury? Here's how to tell if you're overdoing it with exercise.

    So you've finally gotten motivated to exercise, and now you're spending hours at the gym, sweating off the pounds and conditioning your body. But how are you feeling? If you're constantly sore, stiff, uncomfortable, and tired, you might be overtraining and injuring yourself.

Exercise Overload: Why You Shouldn’t Overtrain

Too much high-intensity exercise can harm your body, so be careful not to overtrain. Here are some warning signs that you might be overdoing your workouts:

• Constant pain or soreness. A little bit of soreness after exercise is normal, and it means you pushed your muscles just enough. But that soreness should pass in a day or two. If your muscles are constantly sore and your joints ache with pain, you're probably pushing yourself too hard.
• Difficulty during workouts. If you are struggling to do exercises that were once easy, it's time to ease up on the workouts.
• Increased heart rate. Your heart rate should go up during exercise, but if your heart rate is increased even when you're not working out, that's a concern. People who overtrain may also notice that their heart rate takes longer to get back to normal after exercise.
• Can't sleep, can't eat. Too much exercise can make you lose your appetite and also make it difficult to sleep, particularly if you exercise within two hours of bedtime.
• Changes in menstruation. Women who overtrain may notice that their periods become irregular or stop completely.
• Getting sick. Excessive exercise can wear down your immune system, so you may be constantly catching colds and other infections. You may also notice frequent headaches.
• Losing too much weight, lack of energy, depression, difficulty concentrating, and feelings of irritability are other warning signs of overtraining.

Exercise Overload: Overtraining or Incorrect Technique?

    Be certain that you aren't confusing overtraining with doing exercises incorrectly, warns Jody Swimmer, an exercise specialist and owner of a gym in Louisville, Ky. More often, we see that something went wrong in the workout — a muscle pull or something.

    So how can you distinguish between problems due to overtraining and soreness from improper exercise techniques? "If you’re always sore and your muscles are never recovering and they're very tight, your joints ache, and you can't sleep at night," overtraining is likely to blame, says Swimmer. She also points out that "when you're working out hard, you are tearing your muscle fibers down. You have to [make time for] recovery" to prevent the effects of overtraining.

Exercise Overload: Taking a Break

If you're experiencing these symptoms, try the following:

• Talk to a personal trainer first to see if there's a problem. "Have a trainer watch your routine and make sure that you're exercising correctly, in proper form,” Swimmer says.
• Scale back your exercise routine. “Vary your intensity. And make sure you're stretching, drinking plenty of fluids, and getting proper nutrition,” she says.
• Don’t ignore pain. If you're injured, "seek medical attention and take a break," Swimmer advises.
• Take an exercise break. If you haven't sustained an injury, but notice it's harder for you to complete workouts, your body probably needs a break. Allow your body to rest by taking several days or maybe even a few weeks off to recover fully. You're not going to lose your fitness by taking some time off: Your body needs it.

    Let your body heal, then gradually get back into your exercise routine. Slowly work into a routine that's less strenuous; replace aggressive workouts with more moderate ones. If you're a runner, try light jogging for shorter distances. If you lift weights, cut back on the amount of weight you lift and the frequency of lifting. Work with a trainer to help determine the right amount of exercise, so that you don't suffer the effects of overtraining again.

Exercise is necessary for good health; just be sure not to risk illness and injury by going overboard.