Symptoms of overtraining in athletes

Some athletes and fitness lovers not only try to put their best in every training, but also devote as much time and energy to physical exercises. Objectively, heavy loads for the body, such as crossfit and VIIT (high-intensity interval training with alternating aerobic and strength exercises), are becoming more popular every day, and many people start to exercise five, six or even seven days a week. Sooner or later such enthusiasts overtake not the most pleasant consequence of excessive zeal - overtraining.

Symptoms of this condition are light at first, and therefore not everyone can notice how the body signals: everything, enough, it's time to rest. As a result, the body is overloaded, and the person is not able to undergo another training: all the forces seem to leave the body, depression or apathy occurs, or the appetite disappears or, on the contrary, the appetite increases abnormally, and the thoughts about sports equipment and simulators 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, overvoltage, especially when working with new free weights or increasing the load (for example, when switching from a two-kilogram dumbbell to a four-kilogram dumbbell in a home fitness), passes very quickly and usually does not cause any particular trouble. Overtraining, on the other hand, means that you are engaged too intensively and that your body is simply not able to recover from over-exerting exercises. It may take weeks or even months to get back to normal and eliminate the annoying symptoms of overtraining of the athlete.

Imagine that your body is an electrical outlet, from which all kinds of daily activities are charged. Any classes - no matter how intense - are the devices that you plug into the outlet. If you insert a plug from a wide-screen plasma TV, audio system, blender, lamp, microwave oven, electric guitar and treadmill into the same outlet, what happens? Of course, a short circuit will occur, and the whole system will fail. By the same principle, the human body functions.

The electric socket is a metaphor, which means the central nervous system. It consists of the brain and spinal cord, which control muscles through the supply of nerve impulses. With chronic stress (and any training - stress for the body), nerve impulses weaken and lose effectiveness, resulting in a variety of symptoms of overtraining.

Factors that accelerate the onset of the overtraining syndrome can be the following: either you dramatically increased the frequency of training, or increased the intensity and / or duration of the exercise, or ignore the need for rest and do not allow the body to recover normally. The ability to withstand the overtraining syndrome is predetermined by genetics and the total length of exercise during a lifetime.

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

What to look for

Some signs of body overload due to excessive intensity of sports are more common than others. Often, you can find high blood pressure, a decrease in strength, an increase in the number of injuries, a decrease in endurance, anxiety, fatigue, deterioration in athletic performance, a decrease in the maximum heart rate, and even allergic reactions. Symptoms of overtraining in women often include changes in the menstrual cycle. Some alarming signals quickly attract attention - they are listed below.

Symptom # 1: lack of motivation

If suddenly all the drive and enthusiasm disappeared, the desire to go in for sports and to participate in any activity is completely lost, then the body signals the need for rest and recovery, since you have already reached the phase of overstrain.

Of course, everyone has such days, when you just do not want to go to training. Even famous athletes sometimes have no desire to perform routine exercises. However, if it's been several days or even weeks, and you are still sick at the thought of activity in the gym, you should listen to your body and allow yourself to rest from the load.

Symptom # 2: severe muscle pain after a long workout

Similar symptoms of overtraining in bodybuilding and power sports do not always indicate overloading - sometimes it is a sign of an inadequately nutritious diet. If you consume enough protein, fat and complex carbohydrates and suffer greatly after training, it may be time to rest. How to distinguish this kind of muscle pain from normal, following any physical exertion? Like any symptom of extreme overexertion, this pain syndrome lasts much longer than usual and is characterized by greater intensity.

Since many newcomers in sports want to achieve significant results as quickly as possible, they often show symptoms of overtraining. Someone is too zealous on the gym for hands and then a week can not normally wash his head in the shower, but someone is too focused on the legs and eventually is unable to climb the stairs.

Symptom No. 3: Ineffective workouts

No matter how difficult it is to believe it, excessive sports can lead to loss of muscle mass and a set of excess fat. Most of the townsfolk believe that in sports there is a simple rule of energy balance: you need to burn more calories than you consume, which means - to train more. The problem is that no one takes into account the essential role of hormones in this relationship.

Some symptoms of overtraining in men are manifested as a result of increased production of testosterone (for women, by the way, this is also bad), simultaneously with an increase in the level of cortisol. Responding to overload, the body increases its own resistance to insulin and begins to actively accumulate fat. Of course, you should not allow such undesirable effects, because everyone is engaged in sports in order to be strong and slender.

Symptom No. 4: Anxiety and loss of concentration

Symptoms of overtraining in skiers and other enthusiasts of intensive workloads, including strength exercises and HIIT, are often manifested in the form of a disorder of the sympathetic nervous system, causing increased excitability, concern and inability to concentrate attention.

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

Symptom No. 5: Feeling of weakness

The feeling of weakness for a whole day often haunts athletes who prefer endurance exercises. It is also a sign of a disorder of the sympathetic nervous system, along with a drop in testosterone and an increase in cortisol. The overwhelming feeling of weakness can even lead to thoughts about ARVI, although the culprit here is only overtraining of the muscles, the symptoms of which are capable of taking such forms.

To avoid such side effects from sports, experts recommend reducing the duration and simultaneously increasing the intensity of training, that is, to prefer short, but powerful loads to exhausting long endurance exercises. Even if you are physically able to run 15-20 kilometers each week, this does not mean that you need to so load up the body.

Symptom No. 6: chronic pain in ligaments, bones and extremities

Unpleasant sensations after training, taking the form of a syndrome of delayed muscle soreness (krepatury), are perfectly normal. However, it also happens that the pain does not go away for a long time. Most often, the symptoms of overtraining appear similarly, so think about reducing the intensity or duration of the sessions.

Symptom No. 7: susceptibility to diseases

Most often a person falls ill with the simultaneous combination of several factors: lack of sleep, monotonous or poor nutrition, reduced physical activity, psychological stress. If you think that you do not have any of these problems, but you often get sick, most likely you have overtrained. The causes, symptoms and treatment of this condition is the topic of not one thesis work and not one scientific work.

You can, of course, just do not pay attention to a light morning runny nose or episodic coughing attacks, but it's better to listen to your body in time. These small signals may indicate a disorder of the immune system caused by over-intensive exercise.

How to avoid overloading

Experts always recommend not to fight with the condition, but in time to prevent overtraining: the symptoms and treatment of this ailment are unpleasant, and recovery can take a very long time, for which the muscles lose their former tone. To avoid "short circuit", follow the 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 meditative practices);
• Adjust the training schedule;
• Give the body time to return to normal (it does not necessarily mean completely giving up physical activity - try pilates or complex stretching).