What is Overtraining? And How Can You Recover From This?

When exercising, you may be of the mindset that doing more is the best thing that you can do. However, that is not the best thing for your body. Overtraining is something that many people end up doing, and it can lead to disastrous results. When you overtrain, you are pushing your body to its maximum output, then not allowing enough time for the body to recover, this cycle repeats. And then you find that you hit a plateau that you simply cannot get past. The good news is that there are some exercises that you can do in order to recover from this.

Isometric Exercises

Isometric exercises are great for those who have overtrained. These are basically stretching exercises that helps to increase the blood flow to the muscles without the muscles really moving. Since you have overtrained, you are going to find that the muscles need repair, and increasing the blood flow to these muscles is a great start to recovering from overtraining. Isometric exercises are meant to be done in order to help maintain the strength in a group of muscles, a great exercise for those rest days.

Isotonic Exercises

Isotonic exercises actually work the muscles groups, and are considered the opposite of isometric exercises. Isotonic exercises can be a great in between exercise that helps you to slowly build strength in your muscles. If you have been overtraining this may be just what you need to keep your muscles strong without doing a complete workout.

Signs of Overtraining

For those who workout a lot, be sure that you know the signs of overtraining. Knowing the signs will help you to know that it is time to recover from this overtraining.

1. You notice that you are not getting as good of a performance
2. You may feel tired, your muscles feel sluggish
3. Your blood pressure may be elevated
4. You are seeing more injuries happen
5. Endurance decreased
6. You may be agitated and moody.

The signs are really endless for those who overtrain. The key is that when you start to see these signs is to make a change. If you keep training, you are going to hit a plateau that is going to be hard to get past...plus you are going to find that you may lose your excitement for a workout. If you notice signs of overtraining, take a step back and make changes.