3 signs that you are overexercising
There are many benefits to exercising, ranging from fat loss, to better health and happiness. With all of these, it’s no wonder many of us partake in regular sweat sessions, especially if we’re determined to enjoy a long, healthy life.
However, an issue occurs when that is taken to excess. Like many other things, too much exercise can be detrimental to your body. Some of the consequences for this are acute pain or injuries, problems sleeping and decreased immunity. Ironically, that is the opposite that what exercise is supposed to do. You need to be able to balance exercise so that you are able to enjoy its benefits, without overdoing it.
Signs that you are overexercising:
- Your Readiness: The simplest sign that you may be overexercising is a consistent lack of readiness for your workout. This lack of readiness isn’t referring to your motivation to exercise (although that can be part of it), but has to do more with how you feel. If you are consistently pushing to do sessions which you are mentally or physically defeated before you even begin, you may be overexercising. Unless you are ill, if you go into three consecutive sessions this way you should reevaluate your program for intensity, volume and frequency.
- Your Resting Heart Rate: Monitoring your resting heart rate is a great way to determine where you are physiologically. When your heart rate is consistently high or low, it’s a good sign that your body is not recovering properly. If you see this trend, lower the volume and/or intensity of your training. Once you notice your heart rate stabilizing, you can increase the volume or intensity incrementally.
- Your Sleep and Appetite: How well you’re sleeping and how normal your appetite is are both good indicators of your body’s status. If you find that your sleep is consistently disturbed or that you lose your appetite over a few days, you should consider decreasing the amount of exercise you’re doing. We all have a night in which restful sleep is hard to come by every now and then, and we all have a day where our appetite is less than normal. But when a few days like this are strung together, it may be a sign you’re overexercising.