Are You Training Too Much? | Signs & Tips To Spot Overtraining

Have you upped your training over the last few months? It’s a fine line between getting exceptionally fit and overtraining, one that you don’t want to cross. Heather is here with the help of Dr. Jamie Pringle with warning signs to help prevent you from making that mistake and ending up overtrained!
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Some of us have lost motivation and are just exercising to keep fit, others have gone to the other extreme and upped their training over the last few months. Is that you? If so could you be overtraining?
It’s a fine line between getting exceptionally fit and overtraining, one that you don’t want to cross. Heather is here with the help of Dr Jamie Pringle with warning signs to help prevent you from making that mistake and ending up overtrained!
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[@gtn]

Are you including more training volume or less at the moment? Let us know 👇

[@jameshallfishing3377]

Less this week. It's my deload week. I usually try to cut weight and fitness in half and try to rest more than usual. My body tends to want to exercise harder after 4 days of rest. But I continue to rest the other 3. And when I enter back to the gym or outdoors I take it easy for a few days then start pushing again for another month.

[@heatherfell_oly]

@nomadic potato Take a week off altogether then have a week of some gentle exercise not training. You'll come back stronger.

[@eriksteenkamp3621]

Can you look at haertrate which spikes above normal

[@mtldragon9860]

One of the best signs of overtraining for me is impulsiveness. Little control of eating, poor choices of words when conversing, and making bad life choices.

[@olivemoon1871]

Omg thank you, I was struggling so much with this and fatigue and pain and now I am super ready to just take a break and come back. I can’t handle my impulsiveness anymore

[@thedailytri3054]

Its so easy for me to over train especially when you feel like missing a workout will hurt you but In all reality it could be the best thing you could do for yourself

[@radders6569]

I've been battling overtraining for quite a few years now. And although I look forward to a rest day, when it comes, It's the worst day of the week!

[@gtn]

Truly know this feeling. Just remember, even if you're brain doesn't think it needs a rest, the rest of your body does 🙂

[@radders6569]

@@gtn yep! Although, for first time in I can't remember when, I'm having 2 days off because I'm ill. It's more of a mental thing. Thinking your going backwards in training. So hopefully these 2 days off will be good for me

[@tomasgrygier]

I like the approach of Neil Henderson and others who start planning a week with a rest day. Then they fit in other workouts for an athlete. There was a good episode on Fast Talk podcast this week with hunch of hosts about recovery, NFOR vs. FOR and if it's even necessary for adaptation.

[@radders6569]

@@tomasgrygier yep that's a good one. I also listened to this french cardiologist who specialises in overtraining Syndrome. Clever ways to spot the different types of overtraining

[@thechristiancuber2716]

I totally feel the same! On m/w/f I lift them swim in the morning and I feel like I need to to something every evening. I know I shouldn’t because the next day will be hard but I still feel like I’m worthless and wasting time in the evening even though I’ve put in 3+ hours earlier

[@johnnyb1897]

I've been training heavily 6-7 days a week for the last 4 years. Something I've noticed is my craving for sugars when I've gone over the line. My body screams for ANYTHING sweet usually 4-5 hours after I've pushed too far. Has anyone else noticed this? FYI my diet is pretty close to dialed in. ✌️🇨🇦✌️

[@ellenaeller3373]

Yes..am addicted to running. My body is so fatigued

[@djyamz6359]

Perfectly timed

[@pedrocb8092]

This.

[@PetreDiaconescu]

I'm not training for anything in particular, I'm just addicted to running... And sometimes I over do it. It's nice to see a video like this to understand even more how important is the recovery.

[@ellenaeller3373]

This is me, am running 5 days a week. Am so fatigued

[@ting.8252]

Im overtrained. I feel weak and not able to reach my goals anymore. This makes me emotional since working out has been my daily routine. Coach told me to rest. Now Im taking the much needed break, creatimg a recovery plan and reminding myself to take it easy or else I would take longer than it should. Rooting for allovertrained peeps, we'll get thru this!!!

[@taylor1991]

Always found the more helpful phrase is under recovering rather than over trained

[@sippie2000]

I was very over trained for my first OD triathlon. I did the training fine but in the red, every training. So after the OD I just crashed. Then got a good coach that explained that I should go slow before I go fast. And now I’m pretty much in full control. With little slip ups that I correct during my plan. TLDR: learn to go slow

[@gingeral]

I have definitely fallen into the overtraining bracket lately, I always tell my team to rest and appropriate the training to their lifestyle - I most definitely should listen to my own advice, very timely video thank you

[@Cubo225]

Thanks guys I was actually looking at some articles regarding this topic !

[@winklertribe5268]

Thank you for covering this topic! I have been struggling with this exact issue, and I realize that I need to tune into my body more rather than tune it out and push harder.

[@Salvein]

Thanks for the video

[@wunderlichdrive]

My challenge is knowing how hard to push myself on hard days. I am nearly 55 and I have been improving my running pace very nicely and it has made me very ambitous. But, this has led me to push my body over the edge on hard days and getting hurt. Clearly, I need to do more strength training, but I also think that folks at my age just simply don’t recover as quickly, meaning that we need to be more conservative than what the 10% rule prescribes. Plus, we have to be careful about increases in intensity, not just duration.

[@jamiefuhrman403]

This is definitely something I question about myself. My biggest struggle is knowing how to take a recovery day or period without feeling like crap. Would really appreciate advice or a video on how to best take some time off while keeping your mindset and positive and without feeling like your training will suffer

[@newbluerugby]

This is the best you’ve ever looked. Great content too. Thanks

[@manashbarman3490]

Awesome share of information

[@GrooveyBobby]

That’s really interesting, I have never thought to much about over training, I’m just a recreational cyclist/runner. But I’m going to start taking better care to have proper rest days. Thank you 🐶💕

[@sebastianaustein6522]

I started to include an extra session into my training week and cut off half a rest day for it. To make up for it I bought a GTN-shirt which I wear to enhance my sleep. And what shall I say....it works! Seriously though, I don't have experienced any (additional) issues yet . Very informative video. Thank you for it.

[@lwittrock1]

Great video!

[@brocksmith9162]

Thank you so much.

[@igormiller8156]

For me, I pay attention to my reflexes and reaction time. For example, theres a road where I turn on that has lots of traffic. On days I feel great, I just turn and go and have awareness where cars are. On days Im exhausted or overtrained, my reflexes are slower missing many opportunities to turn. On many studies, it's shown slower reaction times correlate with overtraining. So I pay attention to that, better reaction means green light, bad reaction times, yellow or even red light. Another tip for you runners looking to train competitively, split your sessions. For example, rather than doing a 10 mile run, do a 5 in AM and 5 in early PM. Your body releases hormones to heal itself up to an hour after each session. Same workout with double the recovery.

[@gwwyl]

Rest advice. Thanks so much

[@zyghom]

I learned to listen to my body: both brain and muscles - it works!

[@asoler38000]

Cool 5-string and electric upright basses in Dr. Pringle’s background

[@neon-3467]

Keep hammering!!!

[@KitagumaIgen]

During my competitive period the sign of overtraining was sleeping-problems, when I started to have problems falling asleep during my hardest ground-training period I learned to take a couple of days off and scale the amount down a notch. I see that as a fortunate first sign since as far as I understand this it was a very early sign...

[@ngdawgs1]

I just love y’all!! Exactly the question I’ve been rolling around in my head. I feel exhausted, but I hate taking days off.. instead I just drag my tail through a workout. I know I’m doing this to myself, so this is a good reminder to let my body rest to really see improvements.

[@gtn]

It's not just your body that needs to rest but your mind too! Enjoy some time off 😉

[@adamsusel3801]

I needed to hear this thank you lol

[@gtn]

Glad to be of help!

[@SomethingNick]

I know I’m doing too much when my Garmin shames me with “Performance Condition: Low” 😭

[@MrSpecialized75]

Great video. Any plans to add a discussion about poor responders to excersise? And how to structure plans for these people? Or even what percentage genetics actually contributes to your goals.

[@raminazmoodeh8460]

When I'm on my rest day, I stress out and do more working out even though I feel sick from doing it. My brain will always tell me that I'm being lazy, so I do more and more. I feel stressed and tired.

[@runspace]

I work as a part time gardener and I must say; I've been absolutely zapped lately! A couple of weeks before I started working as a gardener I upped my weekly mileage from 28 to 40 mpw and threw in a quality speed session on the track as well. The accumulated fatigue I know experience has resulted in an elevated resting heart rate, consistantly elevated throughout a week now, diminished energy and fitness stagnation! I am now taking 1 week off of running. Don't do what I did.

[@tomasgrygier]

Big takeway for those balancing on the edge of overreaching is if the performance goes down despite normal training then it means they need a rest not to train more.

[@raymondelliot4605]

I’m a 59 year old male who runs and cycles. My problem is I tend to compete with myself and look at other people who put better times than me. But I have to remember a lot of people are a lot younger than me, so I would go out to quick after an activity instead of recovering and end up with an injury. I really need to draw it in. Is Garmin recovery a good guideline? Thanks for your posts they are helpful.

[@mkoschier]

I use HRV as one of several bio markers, HRV is interesting as it shows the impact of the real life to my capacity to train.I use 3 apps parallel and when 2 out of 3 tells me to back up I do that even if I feel ready to rock. They older you get they more this is an issue

[@iggalan]

I train 7 days, but most days are very easy. 45 to 60 mins easy run (Z1, Z2) or 45 mins easy swimming, or doing some downhill on my trail bike. There is only 1 hard day, running or cycling, depends. Am I at risk of overtraining? For me sport helps me disconnect from the daily stress, I go out on the trails to run or cycle, or swim at the pool.

[@jcolumbiap]

I got into the habit of taking my heart rate and blood pressure every morning when I wake up. I got into this habit because of doctors visits as a child. Because they were always rather negative my blood pressure would be up. Last Spring at the doctors office it was 180/ 75. It took a week to get to my normal 100/60. One new thing I read was stress raises psa on men. So I’m looking for at home psa test so I can see what affects psa.

[@pojepoje4054]

3-5 days train, 2-3 days active recovery. my magic numbers these past few years.

[@ctashi7081]

Wait you train for 3-5 days straight?

[@jonathanzappala]

0:40 haha at first I heard “Taipei” personality 🤣

[@justalurkr]

I haven't been doing much of anything beyond stretching and walking.

[@timobrien256]

More as I recover from a hip replacement

[@alexrunsred526]

i used to train everyday until i actually was more invested into runnign and got a brain and now i only do like 4 or sometimes 5 runs a week

[@kalihitino]

I've been so punchy with family over training. Walking 3x a week, cycling 3x a week. Serious mood swings.

[@menzoznem]

I've now had a few months where a deload week helps me recover, but not fully. Affter every 4 weeks I keep getting beaten down. Now I had 3 full days of rest followed by a heavy legday and and benchpress day and now I feel absolutely floored. I can't even enjoy music or movies anymore. It feels as if I am emotionally depressed/repressed. How long do we need to rest from this? Because I just wanna feel energized again when going to the gym and not so worn down...

[@pegcaptain]

My speed work's been poor since the summer, coupled with lots of bad sleep. None of us want to end up with RED-S.

[@corradofranchini4528]

During the lockdown I used to train a lot and when lockdown was off I continued to train not to hard but more in aerobic zone. Despite the loose of weight (4 kg) and more training my performance didn’t improve. I think this is exactly you explain in the video. Now my question is how I can manage this situation considering that I feel the needs to train myself in order to be satisfied and happy? For All the components you mentioned I can recognize that are true. When you talk about rest period you mean to do absolutely nothing or to do training in a very easy way? Thanks for your fantastic job.

[@soniczforever5470]

I'm gaining weight rapidly in quarantine I focused on my steps hitting 6000, all fine then I did 10000 then over I gained almost five pounds while eating 1500 cals. At my worst I put on a stone running 17k. I stopped for a week and 5 pounds dissapeared I gained 3 over two days and im put right of even walking

[@tecmalo6857]

As some one, who cures out a massive Knee injury, definitely listen to your Body. It's better to take a rest day more, than you normally do, compared to 10 weeks no training at all, speaking from personal experience 😅

[@markusseppala6547]

I know what you mean, I'm jealous to ppl with strong knees they don't know how lucky they are.

[@tecmalo6857]

Markus Seppälä oh yes... i went straight from my highest height (sub 38min 10k), to being happy if I survive 3k without pain. Feels so weird not to run, as I like and I would love to push way more and get back in good shape, but I know, how stupid this would be at the moment. But we both will rise again and get stronger, than we were ever before.

[@markusseppala6547]

@@tecmalo6857 I used jump rope combined with body weight exercises to stay fit while not being able to run, it's gentle on the knees and really good aerobic exercise. Really recommend it.

[@willmckinneystan685]

Is it bad that I swim 17 hours a week?

[@davidb3070]

I walk around 2 hours come home half hour rest two hour bike ride is that overtraining

[@TheSamwhyte]

Do naps help with recovery or does your body only recover/repair itself during a long sleep at night time?

[@gtn]

Nothing wrong with naps 💁‍♂️

[@davenic1669]

Well, just this week I got an MRI done and it turns out I fractured my tibia and tore my mcl. Doctors told me no running or hard exercise for at least 6 weeks. Trained too hard it seems, I’m totally bummed.

[@gtn]

Sorry to hear that, rest well, take you're time and hope to hear your back out again soon 🙂

[@davenic1669]

Global Triathlon Network Thanks! In the meantime, I get to watch your vids from the couch as I heal :)

[@-Christoph]

I hate recovery time. 😬

[@bro7269]

I’m 55 and training for my first sprint tri. I find I’m in a constant cycle of aches and pains from training. Hips from running, shoulders from swimming. I’m not sure how much of this is normal. Of course I want good times but not at the expense of my overall well being…..but I can’t stop. WTF? I need to go to my parents this weekend. I’m bringing the bike so I can brick while I’m there.

[@amyers7521]

I am 50 training for a marathon. Something always hurts or is achey! Comes with our advanced age.

[@novennelagua3151]

Signs of overtraining for me . Less motivated, feels tired Everytime and little control on eating

[@nauding1035]

Yea same for me but what you mean about the eating like binging?

[@ayushgairola4791]

I've been running 5k under 20 min daily for past 2 weeks now. Is it good for me or should I stop.

[@ulfeliasson5413]

I am afflicted. Horrible condition that no one seems able to offer a solution to.

[@tblightningbolt8902]

Are you overtraining. Yes

[@montyl7076]

Wow uve got great Glutes Heather .. 👌 Running well..

[@senorquiza]

That hair...