Feeling great, good health, no problems with excess weight – almost every person who regularly practices sport can talk about these positives. However, intensive training sometimes has a slightly worse effect, which is overtraining. The symptoms resulting from overtraining can be very serious and therefore should be avoided.
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Overtraining – symptoms
Highly repetitive, strenuous strength training or long, strenuous endurance training often results in excessive strain on muscles and joints, exhaustion of the body and disrupted regeneration process. The most common symptoms of overtraining are
– pain in joints and muscles;
– reduction of the body’s efficiency and training power;
– lack of energy;
– bad mood;
– feeling run down and tired;
– irritability, trouble concentrating;
– insomnia;
– lack of motivation, unwillingness to train;
– Injuries occur more easily and the body regenerates more easily;
– dehydration;
– weight loss, reduction of muscle mass.
How to not overtraining?
Muscle overtraining often occurs in people who are trying to achieve optimal results in the form of muscle mass gain, body sculpting or burning fat at too fast a pace. Exercising too often and for too long, or performing too strenuous workouts that are not adjusted to your real capacity, your body becomes more and more exhausted every day, alerting you through the signals mentioned above.
The most effective way to avoid falling into a state of overtraining is to observe your own body and its reaction to given doses of exercise. For example, if after a daily training session of one and a half hours we wake up in the morning tired and feeling sore muscles, it is worth reducing the frequency. Controlling the body’s reactions is the basis for optimising the exercise programme in such a way as to avoid overloading the body, causing injuries and disrupting the recovery process.
It is also worth implementing universal rules for those who train, according to which you should:
– do not overexert yourself, but gradually increase the intensity of your training;
– alternate days of intensive training with days of light training or rest;
– follow a diet rich in all important nutrients, e.g. for mass gain;
– take care of the right quantity and quality of sleep.
Overtraining – – treatment, or how to help exhausted body?
If you are already overtrained, temporary resignation from training is the only way to support your tired body in the recovery process. Those who do not want to give up training altogether should reduce their frequency and intensity by at least half. Moreover, in order to combat the annoying effects of overtraining, it is worth reaching for extra doses of sleep, relaxing massages to relieve muscle tension, and stretching and relaxation exercises.
It is also worth enriching your diet with extra portions of products rich in vitamins, minerals, unsaturated fatty acids and complete protein, as well as reaching for supplements aimed at regenerating the body. If you have sustained more serious injuries as a result of strenuous strength training, overtraining treatment should also include a visit to a specialist.
