9 Signs You Are Over Training

When you are over training it is usually a combination of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion. Sometimes you don’t even know it although you are experiencing the typical symptoms. Over training usually starts with fatigue and gets worse as you keep on over doing it. According to Ironman University, there are clear signs of over training to watch out for, so if you have any of these it’s time to take a good look at your training.

SIGNS OF OVER TRAINING

1. Excessive fatigue. This usually means loss of hunger, sore muscles, and higher than normal Rate of Perceived Exertion.

2. Excessive muscle soreness beyond what you normally have. This may be multiple areas that hurt and they seem to not be getting better.

3. Difficulty sleeping.

4. Depression or anxiety or both. You definitely want to address these 2 conditions before they get any worse. Talking to a therapist or sports psychologist is a good idea.

5. Elevated or suppressed morning HR. From what I have seen, the waking HR is usually higher than normal if an athlete is over training.

6. Longer recovery after hard efforts and longer recovery between work intervals. Your body is freaking tired and it just can't seem to get caught up.

7. Easily irritable. We have all been there.

8. Persistent illness or injury. For example, a hamstring that won’t quite heal or a lingering cough that doesn’t seem to go away.

9. Lack of confidence. You don’t feel like you can complete a workout. Things seem to be overwhelming.

If my athletes come to me with multiple hurts or injuries and they just seem burned out, I always recommend they take a few days completely off. Many times they worry that they will lose fitness by taking time off, but actually the benefit is tremendous. When training for an Ironman a few days of rest in the big scheme of things isn't going to adversely affect your race. In fact it will help you out in the long run. Don't be afraid to rest, recover and rejuvenate.

If you put a check mark next to more than 2 or 3 of these listed above, it may be time to evaluate your training and talk with your coach. What? You don’t have a coach? Let’s get you one now! Shoot me an email HERE and we can set up a call!

Source: University.ironman.com