You have to push your body past its comfort level for it to adapt. That’s the secret to building greater strength and endurance – but push too hard without giving your body a chance to rest and recover and it can interfere with the ability of your body to adapt. It can lead to other problems as well like weight changes, sleep problems and decreased immunity. You’ve probably heard the terms “overtraining” and “overreaching.” Some people use them interchangeably – and both conditions require rest – the primary difference lies with how long it takes to recover from each.
Overreaching versus Overtraining
Overreaching refers to imbalances in training without adequate rest and recovery. If you subject your body to exercise-related stress without giving it time to recover, you can negatively impact your performance and make it more difficult for positive adaptations to take place. Like overreaching, overtraining refers to imbalances in training and rest that reduce performance but it requires a longer period of rest for complete recovery. If you’re overreaching, recovery usually takes two to three weeks at most whereas overtraining will require longer periods of rest and recover – from three weeks to several months. Overtraining is a more severe form of overreaching that won’t be “cured” by a week or two of rest.
Overreaching and overtraining are particularly common in endurance athletes who run long distances without giving their body enough “down time.” For the average person, overreaching is more common than overtraining because once they begin to sense their body needs more rest, they make adjustments to their workout. The key is to pick up on early signs of overreaching and give your body more rest time before it progresses to overtraining syndrome that can take months for a complete recovery.
Unfortunately, not everyone listens to their body. Some athletes when they start to see a decline in performance, they push even harder and “fight through the fatigue.” Do this long enough and changes take place in your endocrine system and cardiovascular system that take months to reverse. This is overtraining syndrome. It’s marked by more extreme reductions in performance, profound fatigue, an increase in resting heart rate and changes in immune function that predispose to infection.
What Happens to Your Body When You Don’t Give It Time to Recover?
If you strength train the same muscle groups too often without adequate recovery between sessions, you break down muscle fibers without giving them a chance to repair. You should allow 48 hours for the muscles you’ve trained to recover and up to 72 hours when working large muscle groups. Remember, muscles grow during recovery time.
How to Recognize When Your Body Needs More Rest
Unlike overreaching that can usually be “cured” with a week or two of rest or light training, overtraining takes more than a few weeks to resolve. In fact, overtraining may take several months to recover from. That’s not a situation you want to find yourself in. Here’s the problem. Overreaching can turn into overtraining if you continue to exercise through it without allowing more recovery time. That’s why listening to your body is so important.
One of the best ways to be aware of how your body is responding to training is to keep an exercise journal. Write down what exercises you do, the number of reps, sets, how long your cardio sessions are and at what intensity, etc. Also, write down how you felt before and afterward and how well you performed during your workout.
Some of the most common symptoms of overreaching are reduced performance, premature fatigue when exercising, decreased energy level, lack of motivation, mood changes, loss of appetite and difficulty sleeping. When you begin to experience these symptoms, modify your workout to give your body more recovery time. Taking a proactive approach will reduce the risk of moving beyond overreaching to overtraining.
Another way to monitor for signs of overreaching is to take a pulse rate first thing in the morning before getting out of bed. If your pulse rate is more than four beats above its baseline value, you may be overreaching and need to modify your workout.
Another way to prevent overreaching or overtraining syndrome is to do a “light” day at least once a week where you do lower intensity exercise. This is a good psychological break too. Give yourself at least one day of complete rest weekly too.
It’s normal to experience delayed onset muscle soreness after pushing your body harder than usual but you shouldn’t be sore all the time. If you’re experiencing chronic muscle soreness, you’re probably pushing too hard and need to reduce the volume of your training.
The Bottom Line?
Your body needs time for rest and recovery to avoid changes that lead to overreaching and the more serious overtraining syndrome. The best form of prevention is to listen to give your body sufficient periods of recovery time and keep a journal to monitor for signs and symptoms that you’re not resting enough. If you overreach and keep pushing, you could end up needing three weeks or more to recover to the point you can perform at the same level. It’s important to push your body but do it in a balanced manner.
References:
Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2003 Jun;17(2):191-209.
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 27(6), 2013.
Journal of Endocrinological Investigation. 27: 603-12.
Related Articles By Cathe:
5 Things You Can Do to Prevent Overtraining and Decreased Performance
5 Factors That Impact How Much Recovery Time You Need Between Strength-Training Workouts
5 Subtle and Not So Subtle Signs That You’re Training Too Hard
