Overtraining, or the problem you really don't want

The love of exercise is definitely great, no question! Exercise is the perfect way to combine relaxation with working on yourself. But even in this case, the rule that too much of anything is bad for you applies. Today, we'll look at what can happen if you overdo it with exercise over the long term.

The results of exercise, whether it's the classics at the gym or perhaps running, are undoubtedly a great motivator in the quest for your dream body. It's just not a rule that the more you exercise/run/whatever else, the faster/more intensely you will lose weight/gain muscle/shape up. You definitely won't get in shape faster if you spend x-hours a day exercising 7 times a week. There is sometimes a misconception that frequent exercise is some sort of prevention of overtraining, as you get "used to the load".

You compare yourself with professional athletes, you get inspired by their workouts, diet plans and you don't realize what conditions they have and what conditions you have. Every professional has a team behind him that takes complete care of him, not only training, but also recovery, sufficient nutrition, rest, massages and this team of experts ensures that overtraining does not occur in the athlete.

Exercise is a great way to outdo yourself. How to constantly push your limits, to be better and better. Exercise is also a good option in chasing away bad moods, or it can help you in difficult situations in life, when training simply makes you switch off, focus on your body and the endorphins make you feel calmer. But if you start to see exercise as a necessity and something you can't be without on a daily basis in any situation, then beware. The vast majority of recreational athletes don't have the ability to naturally regenerate from a large amount of strenuous training, especially in the long term. Not even "non-naturally". Taking steroids will not eliminate overtraining, but only dampen its symptoms.

Overtraining, or overtraining in English, occurs when the body is repeatedly stressed by heavy loads without enough rest to give it enough room to recover. For some, its occurrence is a matter of weeks, for others the body can withstand the onslaught for months. Overtraining is actually a complex of symptoms that signifies intolerance to the training load, put simply. Overtraining is not only a muscular issue, but affects the entire central nervous system. The occurrence of overtraining obviously depends on a bunch of factors - age, gender, daily activity, the intensity of your workouts, the load used, recovery time, the nutrient intake you give your body and also the amount of sleep you get.

Symptoms include:

• Excessive fatigue
• muscle and joint pain
• inability to rest
• moodiness, irritability
• reluctance and overexertion to exercise
• lack of appetite
• difficulty sleeping
• depression
• susceptibility to injury
• weakened immunity
• dehydration
• lack of results, stagnation
• loss of performance
• loss of interest in social life
  

Similarly, overtraining can only arise on a certain part of the body. I will explain this with the example of focusing on your weaknesses. You work out at the gym, the muscle development of certain parts is noticeable, but one is slightly lagging behind. Sometimes it's the biceps, sometimes it's the back, calves, whatever. Your goal is to train this part more often, thinking that it will grow faster. (The image of monday - biceps, tuesday - biceps, wednesday - biceps comes to mind... ). If you train a muscle too often and don't give it enough time to recover, you will definitely not achieve faster growth, but on the contrary you will exhaust the muscle. Once the symptoms of overtraining syndrome appear, the recovery is usually much longer than a classic rest day if you choose a reasonable training distribution.

The time it takes to recover from overtraining is very subjective. The key to eliminating symptoms is rest. If the overexertion was only short term, a week without much exertion will probably be enough. If the overexertion lasted for a longer period of time, it is possible that much more time will be needed to recover. It is difficult to determine a range because every body is different and responds differently.

A good quality diet with plenty of nutrients will help to heal. Also, a sufficient amount of sleep, because as you know, the body recovers best in sleep. You can also support muscle recovery with some vitamins, minerals, vitamin c to support the immune system and glutamine supplementation, for example.

The prevention for the occurrence of overtraining is to use common sense. Plan your workouts, plan your rest. Include at least one day off. In the case of heavy strength training, we recommend including more free days. You will find yourself getting stronger than if you try to train daily. Make sure your body is getting enough nutrients. Eat a high quality, varied and nutritionally rich diet. Also try to give your body enough sleep. Remember the rule that less is sometimes more. Think about your health and exercise sensibly, even if you really like it. Don't just exercise out of obligation, exercise to feel good and because you love it.