What happens if youāre exercising too much? Hereās a guide to signals you should pay attention to and avoid health problems
Exercising, combined with proper diet and hydration, is excellent for your health. It’s something you’ve heard too many times. However, everything we do more than we should will not bring more positive results but create problems. The same goes for exercise. Sometimes, overdoing it can cause you problems without you realizing it. Therefore, we’ve put together the list of signs you are exercising too much. Take a look and see if you recognize any of them. That will tell you to slow down and reduce the number of sets and reps.
Too Much Exercise Symptoms and Solutions
Following are the signs of exercising too hard and how to recover from them:
Injuries
Hurting your body is one of the signs youāre doing too much exercising in the gym. If you notice that youāre getting sore muscles more than before, as well as inflammation, strains, pules, etc., it’s time to change something about your fitness regime. When stress in the muscles increases, they become tight, and it becomes easy to injure yourself.
The solution ā proper recovery and some rest are essential to avoid injuries. Furthermore, check if you need to include more stretching into your routine.
Sleep disorder
Getting enough sleep is essential for the proper functioning of our body. Diet, hydration, and exercising can help you sleep well. But, they can also cause you problems. If you notice that youāre technically getting enough sleep, but after you wake up, you still feel sore and tired, something may be wrong with the way you work out. Also, overexercising may prevent you from falling asleep quickly, so be sure to notice these signals your body is sending you to warn you about getting too much exercise.
Appetite disorder
You indeed need proper nutrition to live and work out properly. However, take a closer look at your cravings. Is there something unusual about them after you finish your workout for the day? One of the signs you are exercising too much is appetite disorder. Spending too many calories may result in craving more after-workout snacks, especially junk food. Thatās why you should pay close attention to what you eat to produce enough energy for your body to endure the workouts and other daily activities.
No progress
Doing a lot of high-level exercising will ensure your body reaches some level of fitness. However, this progress should be steady and show results after each workout. If you fail to notice this progress and stay at the same level for a while, it may be time to make some changes. Apart from the proper exercises, recovery and rest are the key elements to progressing and making your body stronger. Thatās why you shouldnāt underestimate the power of resting after your workouts. They help your body recover and ārecognizeā the progress you will be able to see in your next session!
Furthermore, building a workout routine that will ensure you continue making progress is critical. If you are in doubt, consider consulting a personal trainer to help you develop a healthy and moderate exercise plan that will ensure you keep your progress steady and avoid over exercising and issues that come with it.
Exercising too much canāt happen with a proper exercise plan.
The immune system is down
When there’s something wrong with our health, our body sends us all kinds of signals that we should slow down. When everything is alright, people who exercise have a stronger immune system and rarely get sick. However, if you over-stress your body, the situation can become the opposite. Getting sick more often is one of the signs you should take a break from your exercises and let your body recover. So, if you notice fatigue, feeling sore, and simply not well ā look for the solution in your fitness routine.
Losing weight
Even though it’s one of the most common reasons people exercise, losing weight is not suitable for everybody. If your goal is to become stronger and reshape your muscles by exercising, then losing your weight is one of the signals to consider. If not supported by the proper nutrition, your body will start to lose muscles and make you lose your appetite after high-level workouts. Thatās why you should think carefully and balance these two according to your bodyās needs ā nutrition and exercising need to go hand in hand.
Build muscles and feel good when choosing nutritive food rich in minerals and vitamins.
Heart rate
Heart rate is one of the ways to see if youāre doing too much at the gym. A healthy lifestyle goes with a healthy heart, but sometimes that isnāt the case. Due to overtraining, your resting heart rate can get higher than usual. In general, fit people have a resting heart rate of about 50-60 bpm, so be sure to check that once in a while. Furthermore, you should check your HRV ā heart rate variability. This one should be higher, as it is the sign your body is recovering easily after the workouts.
Motivation
Exercising is not only physical but also mental. Overdoing it can make you feel moody and cause the loss of motivation for exercising and similar activities. There’s only one thing you can do ā take a break for a while. Forcing it will surely not help you with this, but stepping away from the gym for a couple of days will. After some days of rest, see if you get your motivation back. Also, try to switch your fitness routine and try out other activities such as hiking, playing tennis with friends, etc. Change in the environment can make a huge difference and help you feel good about being active again.
To prevent signs of exercising too much, find activities that bring your motivation back.
Balance is the key
This article provides you insights into all sorts of problems you can deal with when exercising too much. Therefore, you should try and find a balance between your daily tasks, exercising, and proper nutrition and combine them with days of rest. Days when you don’t exercise are equally important as the ones when you do. Experts agree that you should take a whole week off, every few months. This helps your muscles regenerate and your body rest. Furthermore, make sure you take enough fluids and stay hydrated at all times. Switch between water, fruit juice, electrolyte sports drinks, or some coconut water. And finally, get enough sleep.
A regular sleep pattern is a key to getting enough rest and letting your body recover. All of these tips will ensure your body loves you back and you feel good every day.
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