Overtraining is something that anybody interested in fitness dreads. It’s something that can creep up on your slowly, but totally stall your progress.
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Athletes worry all the time about whether they are overtraining or not. And it’s the consequences of overtraining that causes so many athletes to turn to performance enhancing drugs.
Overtraining is one of the most confused topics on the internet. For some reason, the topic is shrouded in mystery, probably because there are a lot of people out there denying its existence. But the symptoms are crippling to any training regime. They may include a sore body, reduced concentration, and fatigue. In severe cases, it can result in elevated heart rate and blood pressure and get colds often. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to give advice on what you can do to avoid overtraining.
Take At Least 2 Days Off From The Gym
Many people worry that if they take a break from the gym, they’ll lose performance. But they forget that they only gain performance while they are recovering.
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Having regular days off from training give your body the time to recover. In fact, your days off should be dedicated to recovery. That’s why many people choose to stay away from the gym for the weekend. Working all week and then working out at the weekend is a recipe for burnout.
Get Sports Physio
Your muscles bear the brunt of your training. Weight training physically breaks them down. And aerobic exercise can cause a buildup of lactic acid are soreness. That’s why sports physio is such a good idea.
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It helps avoid overtraining by better preparing your muscles for punishment during training. A good physio will focus on making muscles more robust and building auxiliary strength in lesser muscles.
Eat Well
Studies have shown that what we eat affects our recovery. Unfortunately, the internet is replete with bad diet advice and boring recipes that even a Trappist monk would reject.
You don’t have to have endless meals of chicken, brown rice and broccoli. Find some whole food recipes that are delicious. There are plenty of them.
Plus varying the type of plant food you eat can assist in recovering and reduce your chances of burnout. Berries are particularly useful in helping muscles to repair after hard exercise. And beans are an excellent source of protein that avoids the inflammation caused by animal foods.
Go To Bed Early
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The majority of your recovery happens while you are fast asleep at night. If you’re serious about training, you’ll schedule your sleep to maximise your recovery.
That means sleeping according to your circadian rhythm. That is your natural, internal body clock that evolved over the millennia.
Adhering to natural sleep patterns by not staying up all night playing computer games will also improve the quality of your sleep. And this, in turn, will accelerate your recovery and allow you to get back to training sooner.
Remember, a little soreness in the morning is OK if not a sign that you trained well. But you can only remedy chronic symptoms by reducing your training.
