Every dedicated athlete is at risk of overtraining. This happens when you’re not giving your body a chance to recover fully in between end-to-end tough training cycles. It usually results when you try to break personal best back-to-back or to improve your performance all at once.
How do you know you’re overtraining?
Researchers have detected five warning signs. The first is a rise in your resting heart rate. A trained athlete usually has a lower heart rate at rest.
The second sign is when you feel very thirsty, especially after working out. Sometimes you may notice you don’t sweat as much either.
Thirdly, your sleep patterns may change. This seriously affects your body’s ability to repair and rest.
The fourth red light is when you feel moody and reluctant to continue training. If you’re preparing for competition, you may feel unready and off-colour instead of peaking. You find it hard to stick to your current regimen.
Another high alert sign is when a fully trained athlete starts losing weight at the current regimen. This is because your body is digging into its fat reserves, which are already low.
So watch out for these signs. Take a rest for a couple of days to weeks, and recharge your body!