Is this what overtraining feels like?

[cdanko]

Hi Cathe or anyone who can answer my question - I work out 6 days per week and am 46 years old. Have been working out for 26 years steady. Usually I do cardio everyday and full body weight training 3 days per week. My question - my hamstrings constantly have the feeling of cramping/aching. It bothers me to sit for a longer than a 1/2 hour at a time (at work). I try to stretch them out but cannot get the range of motion I used to. I have STS but am putting off starting heavy weights because I can really feel it when doing squats and just bending over to pick things up. My workouts last anywhere from 1 hour to 2.5 depending on what I am doing for that day and I usually walk for 1/2 hour at lunchtime. Thanks for any suggestions/answers.

 

[NY25]

Yes. I would recommend you swap out one of your cardio days with some yoga. Yoga can be very challenging, so don't feel you can't get a "workout" with it. I would also consider leaving some of your weight days as weight only. You are not giving your body adequate time to recuperate. You haven't stated what type of cardio you're doing, but be sure you're not doing too much of the same thing, as well. Variety is key.

 

[maddiesmum]

I don't think you are over training, I think you are over trained. There's a difference. I would recommend that you take at least one week off from all targeted exercise, just keep the half hour walk at lunch time. You have worked out consistently for 26 years, and guess what, even highly conditioned athletes take weeks off as part of their training, every year. Heck, you have so much fitness stored in the bank you could probably take a month off and benefit from it hugely.

I agree with the other poster that you need an intense course of flexibility training right now. But I also think you could do with booking a couple of sessions with a physical therapist and ask him or her to take a look at your lower body and check for muscle imbalances. This could be what is causing your shortened range of motion and tightness in the hamstrings. You need to sort this out rather than continue to weight train on legs whose muscle ratios are already out of whack. Otherwise, next stop, injury.

It's not that your body isn't in good shape, it just needs some tweaking and fine tuning. You sound like you need a different sort of training, and we do, as we get older.

You also don't need to be doing cardio 6 times per week and full body weights 3 times per week. If your cardio workouts are intense, you can cut them down to three per week and not lose any cardiovascular fitness at all. Instead, schedule in three extra sessions of yoga or whatever special training the PT thinks you need and extra rest and your aches and strains and tiredness will be thing of the past.

Clare

 

[drover]

wow clare, what a great answer. i have been trying to get an answer about this for a long time. i too, have been working out for over 20 yrs. i am 55 and i tend to go all out all the time. as i age i have had to slow down. but your answer is the first time i have heard the difference between over training and over trained. that is so interesting. i try to take a week off here and there, but i'm not good at it. i am taking off next week cuz i will have my grandkids all week and that wears me out. on top of workin gout, i am also physically active. i ride horses and am outside alot. anyway, i am so glad i read your post, i love your answer. i have incorporated more yoga and pilates than ever before. gettin' old is not easy!

 

[Stebby]

I can totally vouch for what Clare is saying. I was in the same position a year ago and I thought my problem was overtraining. It was actually severe muscle imbalance, which had started as overdeveloped outer quads/underdeveloped vastus medialis, and progressed up my body (as it tried to compensate with the wrong muscles) into lower back pain. For the past year I have been seeing a chiropractor and an athletic therapist, and am also doing an intensive stretching program. I'm currently on my second round of STS and am having absolutely no problems - strength is good, range of motion is good, no aches and pains.

Stebby

 

[maddiesmum]

Yup, getting older sucks, big time. I'm not enjoying it either! I am currently struggling to diagnose a 2 month bout of hip pain which is not responding to rest, or from desisting from running, or from working to increase hip stabilization and improve strength of gluteus medius, which is what my doctor said I needed to do. Instead, it's getting worse. So, like you all, I have to think laterally: how can I train smarter, not more? What exactly is out of balance that is causing this hip pain?

Personally, I am going back to my doctor and insisting on a second diagnosis and physical therapy. I know I need something different, I just don't know what it is...yet.

Clare

 

[cdanko]

Thank you for your answers - certainly gave me a ton to think about. I have read about taking a week off every so often but am scared to do that - I tried once but only get to two days. I will definitely start stretching more and monitoring my weights more. I probably shouldn't be doing some sort of high intensity cardio every day too. Thanks again for your input - it's good to know that I can get some answers/suggestions here when I need to.

 

[maddiesmum]

If in the past you never managed to get beyond two days without exercising before going right back to it again, I would ask you to ask yourself why this is and to consider that you have an exercise addiction.

Wanting exercise in our lives and enjoying the benefits of it are different to needing it and not being able to do without it for at least a week without having some sort of reaction.

Here it is again: you can take a week off. Your fitness will not be detrimentally affected. Your life will not fall apart. Actually, your fitness and health will benefit.

If you cannot take that week off psychologically, then you should consult a therapist to find out what gap in your life exercise is filling up for you and how you could address those needs in a more healthful way.

Sorry if this is not what you want to hear.

Clare

 

[drover]

sounds like me , clare. i have a very hard time taking off. but, i am gonna take off this wed-next tues. not sure how much rest i will get, since i will be taking care of my grandkids, we are always outside, riding horses, playing, so i will not be officially excercising, but i'll be busy. and probably worn out. my dil is going to floride to give a bridal shower for her sister, so the kiddos are staying here.

 

[maddiesmum]

Hey Cathy,

have fun with the grand kids, a workout of a different genre!

Clare

 

[Traildoggie]

I'd agree with the above. I do yoga one day a week and it's helped my flexibility. My hips were getting so tight I couldn't sit cross legged anymore.

I also wouldn't want to take a full week completely off, but I regularly rotate other activities in . I don't know what you do for regularly for cardio but anything different from "the usual" might help. Hiking? biking? swimming? What do you do on vacation if you take them?

DH was compulsive about treadmill/elliptical. after 30 years he suddenly developed a very painful muscle imbalance in his hip/lower back area on one side. he ended up in physical therapy and having to forgo running for months. He's now better about stretching, is doing more biking, hiking and weight training for variety and the pain has slowly gone away. Few of us are perfectly aligned and doing the same thing over and over for years can exaggerate small imbalances.