OVERTRAINING SYNDROME PART TWO

The top signs of overtraining syndrome to look out for are:

1. An Elevated Resting Heart Rate. If we notice our waking heart rate is 10-15 beats per minute higher than usual, take a rest.

2. Insomnia. Counter intuitively, knackering ourselves out can actually make it harder to get to sleep. If we are going to bed tired, yet laying there unable to sleep and this coincides with an increase in training frequency or vigour, the chances are we are over training. Best practice is to take a few days off in order to recover and let our hormones and central nervous system restore their equilibrium.

3. Emotional Changes. Overtraining syndrome has influences far beyond the physical realm. Because of the tax on our hormones and strain on our system, it’s not uncommon to encounter emotional changes, such as a lack of motivation and lower self-esteem.

4. Muscular Soreness. We’re not referring to typical post-workout muscle soreness. If our aches are lasting three to four days and beyond, it’s probably a sign our body has not adequately been able to recover and we need to take a break from training.

5. Poor Performance. Perhaps the easiest to spot indicator. Generally speaking, all of our workouts should be tracked and documented. It helps determine whether we are making strength and performance gains and if we wish to recover a certain level of conditioning in the future, we can recount the workouts that led up to it. Two or three bad workouts on the trot represents a big warning sign that it’s either time for a new training focus, a rest week, or both!