Some athletes and fitness enthusiasts not only try to give their all in every workout, but also devote as much time and energy as possible to physical exercises. Objectively hard physical activities such as CrossFit and HIIT (high-intensity alternating aerobic and strength training) are becoming more popular every day, and many people start exercising five, six and even seven days a week. Sooner or later, such enthusiasts are overtaken by the not-so-pleasant consequence of excessive zeal - overtraining.

The symptoms of this condition are mild at first, and therefore not everyone can notice how the body signals: that's enough, it's time to rest. As a result, the body is overloaded, and the person is unable to go through the next workout: all the forces seem to leave the body, depression or apathy sets in, appetite disappears or, conversely, abnormally increases, and thoughts about sports equipment and exercise equipment cause only irritation and anger. To prevent this from happening to you, be sure to listen to your own body: it will certainly tell you when the load becomes excessive.

What is overtraining?

Symptoms of this condition are similar to less severe overexertion. However, overexertion, especially when working with new free weights or increasing the load (for example, when switching from two-kilogram dumbbells to four-kilogram dumbbells in home fitness), passes very quickly and usually does not cause much trouble. Overtraining, on the other hand, means that you are exercising too intensely and that your body is simply unable to recover from overly exhausting exercise. It can take weeks or even months to bounce back and eliminate the annoying symptoms of an overtrained athlete.

Imagine that your body is an electrical outlet from which all types of daily activities are charged. All activities - no matter how intense - are devices that you plug into an outlet. If you plug a widescreen plasma TV, an audio system, a blender, a lamp, a microwave oven, an electric guitar, and a treadmill into the same outlet, what happens? Of course, there will be a short circuit, and the whole system will fail. The same principle applies to the human body.

An electrical outlet is a metaphor that refers to the central nervous system. It consists of the brain and spinal cord, which control the muscles through the supply of nerve impulses. With chronic stress (and any training is stress for the body), nerve impulses weaken and lose their effectiveness, resulting in a wide variety of symptoms of overtraining.

Factors that accelerate the onset of overtraining syndrome can be the following circumstances: either you have dramatically increased the frequency of training, or increased the intensity and / or duration of training, or you are ignoring the need for rest and not allowing the body to recover normally. The ability to resist overtraining syndrome is determined by genetics and the total duration of sports throughout life.

Since all people exercise in different ways, you should carefully monitor your own body. Of course, the symptoms of overtraining in bodybuilding will be different from the signs of overload in those who prefer athletics.

What to look out for

Some signs of body overload due to excessive exercise are more common than others. It is not uncommon to find high blood pressure, low energy levels, increased injury rates, decreased stamina, anxiety, fatigue, decreased athletic performance, decreased maximum heart rate, and even allergic reactions. Symptoms of overtraining in women often include changes in the menstrual cycle. Some alarms attract attention faster - they are listed below.

Symptom #1: Lack of Motivation

If suddenly all drive and enthusiasm have disappeared from you, the desire to participate in any active activity has completely disappeared, then the body is signaling the need for rest and recovery, since you have already entered the phase of overstrain.

Of course, everyone has those days when you just don’t want to go to the gym. Even famous athletes sometimes have no desire to perform routine exercises. However, if several days or even weeks have passed, and you still feel sick at the thought of being active in the gym, you should listen to your body and allow yourself to take a break from the load.

Symptom #2: Severe muscle pain after a long workout

Similar symptoms of overtraining in bodybuilding and strength sports do not always indicate an overload - sometimes it is a sign of an insufficiently nutritious diet. If you're eating enough proteins, fats, and complex carbohydrates, and you're suffering a lot from your workouts, it might be time to take a break. How to distinguish such muscle pain from normal, following any physical activity? Like any symptom of extreme overexertion, this pain syndrome lasts much longer than usual and is characterized by greater intensity.

Since many beginners in sports want to achieve noticeable results as soon as possible, they are more likely to show symptoms of overtraining. Some people lean too hard on the hand trainers and then can’t properly wash their hair in the shower for a week, while others focus too much on their legs and end up unable to climb stairs.

Symptom #3: Failed Workouts

As hard as it may be to believe, excessive exercise can lead to muscle loss and excess fat gain. Most people believe that a simple rule of energy balance works in sports: you need to burn more calories than you consume, which means you need to exercise more. The problem is that no one takes into account the essential role of hormones in this ratio.

Some of the symptoms of overtraining in men are the result of increased testosterone production (which is also bad for women, by the way) along with an increase in cortisol levels. In response to overload, the body increases its own insulin resistance and begins to actively store fat. Of course, such undesirable effects should not be allowed, because everyone goes in for sports in order to be strong and slender.

Symptom #4: Anxiety and loss of focus

Overtraining symptoms in skiers and other high-intensity athletes, including strength training and HIIT, often manifest as a sympathetic nervous system disorder that causes irritability, restlessness, and an inability to concentrate.

When this happens, the recovery of the body is even harder and takes longer than usual. Do not underestimate restful rest and healthy sleep - they provide improved training results.

Symptom #5: Feeling weak

A feeling of weakness throughout the day often haunts endurance athletes. It is also a sign of a sympathetic nervous system disorder, along with a decrease in testosterone levels and an increase in cortisol. The overwhelming feeling of weakness can even suggest SARS, although the culprit here is only muscle overtraining, the symptoms of which can take on such forms.

To avoid these side effects from sports, experts recommend reducing the duration and at the same time increasing the intensity of training, that is, prefer short but powerful loads to exhaustingly long endurance exercises. Even if you are physically capable of running 15-20 kilometers every week, this does not mean that you need to put so much stress on your body.

Symptom #6: Chronic pain in ligaments, bones and limbs

Unpleasant sensations after training, which take the form of delayed muscle soreness syndrome (krepatura), are completely normal. However, it also happens that the pain does not go away for a long time. These are the most common symptoms of overtraining, so consider reducing the intensity or duration of your workouts.

Symptom #7: Susceptibility to disease

Most often, a person gets sick with a simultaneous combination of several factors: lack of sleep, monotonous or poor nutrition, reduced physical activity, psychological stress. If you don't seem to have any of these problems, but you often get sick, you may be overtraining. The causes, symptoms and treatment of this condition is the topic of more than one dissertation work and more than one scientific work.

You can, of course, just for a slight morning runny nose or episodic coughing spells, but it’s better to listen to your body in time. These small signals may indicate an immune system disorder caused by too intense exercise.

How to avoid overload

Experts always recommend not to fight the condition, but to prevent overtraining in time: the symptoms and treatment of this disease are unpleasant, and recovery can take a very long time, during which the muscles lose their former tone. To avoid follow these simple tips:

• get enough sleep;
• make sure that your daily menu includes all the necessary nutrients and trace elements;
• recover from psychological stress (for example, replace strength exercises with yoga and meditation practices);
• adjust your training schedule;
• give your body time to return to normal (you don't have to stop physical activity completely - try Pilates or complex stretching).