Whether you’re training for a marathon or trying to lose weight, working out too much can end having more than a few negative effects on your body, and even your state of mind. Overtraining can lead to life-threatening complications, like ketoacidosis, but there are plenty of red flags that you should notice before that point.
Discover the most common signs you’re overtraining, and make sure that you’re giving your muscles enough rest to rebuild themselves.
1. You Struggle to Finish Your Workout
When you notice that your progress has peaked and you’re finding it hard to get through your workout routine, even when you keep switching muscle groups, there’s a problem. Overtraining your body isn’t just something that happens to athletes. When you feel like you’re experiencing regression in your efforts, it’s time to take a step back and give yourself a little rest.
2. Your Motivation Is Wavering
One of the biggest signs you’re overtraining is losing your motivation even though nothing else has changed. Loss of competitive drive is another sign that there’s a problem with your workout regimen or that you’re simply doing too much. The lack of motivation can also affect other areas of your life, including dieting.
3. You Suffer From Muscle Soreness
After a difficult workout, muscle soreness is expected, but when it lasts for too long, it’s definitely a problem. If the soreness sticks around for more than 3 days, there’s definitely a problem, and you should rest and take a break from all exercises. If you keep training and ignore it, you might end up doing more damage to your body.
4. You Slip Into Depression
While moderate exercising can keep you energized and upbeat, too much of it can actual cause depression. Depression, anxiety, irritability, mood disturbance and difficulty concentrating are all signs you’re overtraining. If you notice these problems and you’re also dealing with loss of motivation and enthusiasm for working out, you definitely need a break.
See also: 10 Exercise Mistakes That Age You
5. You’re Always Exhausted
When you’re struggling with general fatigue and you’re even exhausted after every single workout, without feeling any energy, that’s a big issue. You might definitely be making the mistake of overtraining. Without the post-gym endorphin rush, you’re also likely to be less motivated the next time you have to work out, so take a break and let your muscles rebuild.
6. You’re Thirsty All the Time
An unquenchable thirst can be a symptom of type II diabetes, but it’s also one of the signs you’re overtraining. If you can’t seem to shake off the thirst, particularly when you’re working out, you might be dehydrated because of your workouts. You’ll need more than water in this case, you to replenish your electrolytes and get a good rest.
7. You’re Getting Injured More Often
From having trouble with old injuries to getting new ones, this is definitely a sign of pushing yourself too far at the gym. When you’re starting to notice old injuries becoming sore again, you need to take a break or risk further damage.
8. Your Immunity Is Decreased
If you notice you’ve been sick more times since you’ve started training a lot, or you just have more trouble getting over simple infections like the common cold, that’s a big red flag. Decreased immunity is one of the signs you’re overtraining, and if you keep going, you might end up in the hospital the next time you get the flu or a stomach bug.
9. Your Resting Heart Rate Is Raised
An increased resting pulse is also one of the signs that something is up. Overtraining can increase your metabolic rate dangerously high. You might think that’s a plus for short term weight loss, but it can actually be dangerous, and it’s one of the red flags that proves you’re pushing yourself too much and you need more rest.
More: 10 Signs You’re on the Wrong Diet
10. You Have Trouble Sleeping
Insomnia is also one of the signs you’re overtraining. If you have trouble going to sleep, or you wake up after 7-8 hours feeling anything but rested, you need to take it easy for a while. Give your body the rest it needs in order to stay healthy.
