Few things do as many good things to your body as exercise. Workouts place stress on your body but stressing your muscles and cardiovascular system in a controlled manner forces your body to adapt and become stronger and more resilient. Despite the obvious benefits that training offers, it is possible to push your body too hard, past the point where it can’t adapt in a healthy manner. If that’s the case, you could find your workouts suffering and, if you don’t take action, experience mental or physical health consequences.
In extreme cases, pushing too hard can lead to elevations in cortisol, which negatively affects your immune system. If sustained, high cortisol can lead to other problems like infertility and bone loss. Plus, you might experience mental health problems, such as anger, anxiety, or depressed mood, from the effects of cortisol. There’s a mild form of “pushing too hard” that sports medicine trainers call overreaching, but when physiological changes from overexercising are extreme, it’s known as overtraining, a syndrome that can take weeks or months to recover from.
The key to avoiding the more serious state of overtraining is to respond to early indicators that you’re training too hard, so you don’t progress to a state of overtraining. That will mean identifying signs early and changing your approach so that you give your body enough time to recover from your training sessions. The key is to pick up on signs that you’re “overreaching” early. Unfortunately, the signs are easy to miss if you’re not aware of them. Here are some early warning signs to look out for.
Your Sleep Quality is Declining
Exercise, in moderation, can help you get a better night’s sleep. However, insomnia and frequent awakenings during the night can also be a sign you’re overreaching or pushing too hard. When you overreach or overtrain, it can cause a surge in cortisol. In turn, that can lead to difficulty falling asleep and early morning awakenings. Some people use a sleep app to track their sleep and that can be helpful if you train regularly or have chronic sleep issues.
Low Heart Rate Variability
If you train too hard without compensatory rest, it affects your autonomic nervous system, the portion of your nervous system that controls your heart rate. The stress of pushing too hard reduces heart rate variability, a sign that your autonomic nervous system isn’t reacting quickly enough to changes in your environment. Therefore, the time between each heartbeat doesn’t vary as much as it should. To track heart rate variability, you need a heart rate monitor that measures heart rate variability and you’ll need to track it over time to see what your baseline is. Then, you can watch for changes in heart rate variability and respond appropriately.
Your Morning Heart Rate is Higher Than Usual
Get into the habit of checking your resting heart rate as soon as you wake up in the morning and record the values. Before getting out of bed in the morning, count your pulse for 20 seconds, and multiply the number by 3. Then, record the value. Repeat every morning so you have a baseline. If you notice your first-morning resting heart rate is up for several days in a row by 7 or more beats per minute, your body hasn’t recovered from your previous workout. Some athletes use this method to monitor for overreaching or overtraining. Interestingly, studies link an elevated resting heart rate during sleep with excessive fatigue and overtraining but that’s harder to measure.
You’re Finding Excuses Not to Work Out
Everyone has days where they don’t want to work out but if those days become more frequent, you could have a case of exercise burnout from training too hard. Take a few days off to recharge mentally and physically. After a rest, you may come back stronger than ever. If those days become more frequent, ask yourself whether you’re giving yourself enough recovery time between training sessions.
People who overreach or overtrain can develop more severe signs and symptoms such as low motivation, loss of self-esteem, feelings of sadness and inadequacy, fatigue, lack of appetite, and irritability. So, pay attention to the excuses you make and make sure they’re not a signal you’re pushing too hard. Making excuses could also be a sign that you’re bored or need to vary your workouts more too.
Your Daily Workouts Are Feeling Harder and Harder
Another subtle sign that you’re not giving your body enough rest and recovery time is a higher rate of perceived exertion when you work out. Mental and physical fatigue can make your typical workout feel more challenging than it normally would, even if you aren’t working harder. Normally, a workout becomes easier over time, as your body adapts and becomes more efficient at doing it. If your workouts start to feel harder, ask yourself why. Could it be that you’re pushing too hard and not resting enough?
The Bottom Line
Overreaching and overtraining come from imbalances between training and rest. If you recognize the symptoms early and give your body more rest time, you can get back on track quickly. However, if you ignore the signs that you’re overreaching, you may end up in a more serious overtrained state that could take weeks or months to recover from. When you work out, you know to listen to your body.
Also, keep a fitness journal. Along with the exercises you do, write down your first-morning heart rate, and track your sleep quality and mental state too. Changes in how you sleep, your mental outlook, how difficult your workouts feel, and how motivated you are can all be signs of overreaching. Once you’re aware, you can take the necessary steps to get back on track.
References:
- J Sports Sci Med. 2003 Dec; 2(4): 133–138.Published online 2003 Dec 1.
- Heart Rate Variability and Overtraining. By Trisha Ann VanDusseldorp, MS, and Len Kravitz, PhD.
- com. “How Heart Rate Variability Tells You When to Hammer”
Related Articles By Cathe:
5 Possible Causes of Overtraining
How Your Body Adapts to the Stress of Exercise & the Importance of Not Overtraining
5 Things You Can Do to Prevent Overtraining and Decreased Performance
Strength Training: Avoid These 5 Mistakes When Lifting Heavy
5 Things You Might Be Getting Wrong about Rest Days
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