Remember how you felt when you first started working out? You wanted quick results, so you hit the gym almost every day without rest, hoping that you will progress faster and look better if you put more effort into it.
That’s what happens with 99 percent of the newbies in strength and performance sports. They are so motivated to succeed that eventually they end up doing too much of what they do and see regression on their gain, or even worse – they end up injuring themselves.
Related: The 9 Most Common Causes Of Injuries In the Gym!
Putting your body trough constant intense training may seem like it makes you a tough guy, but in the long run you’ll end up smaller and weaker. Below is a list of the most common overtraining symptoms. If you notice you have two or more of these symptoms, it’s time to back off, take some rest time or a deload week.
Strength Loss
The weights you lift are going down and you have a feeling that you need to decrease them. Don’t get me wrong here, loss of strength is a natural thing and it can happen occasionally due to certain factors such as your food intake, loss of sleep, illness, stress etc.
But if your strength is going down for a longer period of time, you need to consider taking some time off or cutting the volume and/or intensity per workout.
Feeling tired all the time
A constant feeling of fatigue is a good sign that you may be overtraining or not getting enough rest.
Pain in your joints and ligaments
If you have been training for some time you can probably distinguish the “good” pain (DOMS) that you feel after an intense workout and a “bad” pain, like when your elbow hurts and you can’t do pushing movements for an example.
Related: 5 Effective Ways to Prevent and Deal with Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)
Suppressed immune system
You are getting colds and the flu more frequently. Immune system suppression is a common symptom of too much physical work.
Increased resting heart rate
Even though you haven’t done any physical work, your heart is racing. This could happen even when you are relaxing, sitting down or comfortably watching TV. Elevated blood pressure is also a possibility.
Related: How to Lower Your Blood Pressure Naturally
Slow recovery time
Even though you are eating enough calories and sleeping well, your muscles feel sore a few days after the workout and you are not able to work the same muscle group even after 5-6 days.
Loss of appetite
Even though you train very hard, you don’t feel the need to replenish the energy you lost. You simply are not hungry.
Related: How to build muscle if you are struggling with poor appetite
Insomnia
Again, even though you are working out hard and feel tired, you’ll have trouble falling asleep or can’t fall asleep at all.
Related: The Main Causes of Insomnia And Tips to Help You Sleep Better
Mood changes
Sudden changes of mood are a very common symptom of overtraining. The overtrained person can feel irritable and/or depressed during the day and for days.
Feeling unmotivated
You simply don’t feel like going to the gym or eating clean. You might not even be motivated to do other things you usually like doing.
Further reading:
7 Signs You’re Overstressed (And Don’t Know It)
How to recognize the 5 major symptoms of overtraining and get back to building muscle mass fast
6 Dangerous Side Effects of Sleep Deprivation You NEED to Know!
