Overtraining

May 29, 2013

What is overtraining?  Wikipedia defines it well:  Overtraining is a physical, behavioral, and emotional condition that occurs when the volume and intensity of an individual’s exercise exceeds their recovery capacity. They cease making progress, and can even begin to lose strength and fitness.  Overtraining is a common problem in weight training, but it can also be experienced by runners and other athletes.

Well I experienced this last week. On a day I was supposed to run, I could feel my body temperature elevated and I didn’t have the enthusiasm that usually occurs on my cardio day.  I just didn’t feel right.  The problem with the signs of overtraining is many of us ignore them and proceed to complete the workout only to find ourselves injured or disappointed in our performance.  I know with myself I always feel guilty for not completing the workout and when I do I am left feeling disappointed because it wasn’t my best.

Some of the signs of overtraining are as follows: Mood swings, repeated muscle soreness, illness, increase in morning heart rate, joint pains, lack of sleep, decreased performance, lack of ability to concentrate, increased injuries, and fatigue.  These are just a few of the symptoms.  If you go on the Internet and research overtraining, you will find many other suggestions and descriptions. I have been researching the effects myself because I feel like my training is not at its best.  Therefore, I have been taking more days off in between workouts to allow myself to recover.  I am still dealing with an injury around my upper left hamstring area and have been pushing through my workouts anyway which is not good.

I am one of these people that think a little of anything is better than nothing at all.  But when you are injured, that is just not the case.  And I struggle with the down time.  I feel because I have been pushing myself hard, injured and all, my body has gone into the overtraining mode.  When I look at some of the symptoms above, I can pick out several that I am dealing with.

So how do you combat the overtraining syndrome?  Take a day or two off and try to relax.  Decrease your intensity level, increase your sleep cycle, treat yourself to a massage, stretch, eat clean (diet is everything!!), and don’t get disappointed because you need to take an extra day off!  You will find by resting your body appropriately, you will see gains in endurance and muscle strength 🙂

WORKOUTS:  I always close by adding some of my workouts down below.  All workouts are performed using the NordicTrack X9i Treadmill.  Awesome machine!!

5/25/2013        South Kaibab Trail – Grand Canyon   3.41 miles

5/28/2013  Tower Bridge, London England   3.09 miles

In between these workouts I was weight training in my home gym.  I actually found on bodybuilders.com a weight training program I am going to try.  It’s by Obi Obadike.  Obi is considered the world’s most ripped fitness model Obi Obadike Overtraining and  Strength workout.  The workout is basically as follows:

Obi’s Training Split

• Monday- Chest/Biceps- 30 minutes of high intensity cardio
• Tuesday- Legs/Triceps/Abs- 30 minutes of high intensity cardio
• Wednesday- Shoulders/Back- 30 minutes of high intensity cardio
• Thursday- Light Chest/Biceps/Abs
• Friday- Off
• Saturday- Off
• Sunday- Off

I’m going to see how this works for me starting next week.  I will be sure to blog my opinion on the plan. The one thing I will be adding is on Saturday’s, I will make it my long  jogging day.

And my quote for the day is by Michael Jordan….

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career.

26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.

I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life.

And that is why I succeed.”

Michael Jordan