3 Signs you are Overtraining

As humans, we often see things in others before ourselves. We also have a tendency to be high achievers and think that doing more is for the best. But this is not always the case, as we can drive ourself into a fatigue deficit. 

Here are 3 ways to identity if you might be over training:

1. You are picking up frequent injuries/niggles or sickness

When we train too much, we weaken our immune system, meaning we are more prone to getting sick. Similarly training too much does not give your body the recovery time it needs, thus more likely to pick up an injuries. If you have suffered from back to back injuries or spells of sickness, it is probably worth looking at your training load and frequency of high impact sessions. 

2. Your performance has plateaued or declined

When this happens, our reaction is usually to push harder, to work even more. You might have noticed that there is a decrease in your speed, strength, or overall endurance despite your consistency. In order to allow your body to make progress it needs to recover from the stress it is under.

3. Your energy for life is low

Not waking up excited and ready for the day, despite a full nights sleep, could be sign that you need to rest more. Perhaps social plans with friends or family used to be fun and they now feel like a chore. It is important that our training complements our lifestyle, as opposed to hindering it. 

Remember sometimes the hardest thing we can actually do is take a rest day or recovery week!  Do hard things; and see improvements in many areas of life.