Oversleeping to Prevent Overtraining

Good Morning!

Although I had planned on an early bedtime last night, I still didn’t make it to bed until after 10:30pm. I set my alarm this morning for my usual time so that I could fit my early morning workout in to jumpstart my day, but when the alarm went off I just wasn’t feelin’ it. It wasn’t the usual “I’ll just hit the snooze one more time…” it was more like my entire body still felt exhausted. I knew that by sleeping more I would have to forego my workout, but one of the things that I am getting better at every day is listening to my body, and my body was asking for a rest. I am a stickler when it comes to schedules and plans, so if I have a plan for a particular workout one day and I am unable to do it or I am unable to workout completely I used to beat myself up over it, and I know that I am not the only one that does this. This made me think of the issue of overtraining.

For those who don’t know, overtraining is a physical, emotional, and mental condition that occurs when the body does not have the proper recovery time to heal from the intensity of working out. When this occurs, progress gained in fitness and strength often begins to go backwards. Symptoms of overtraining are:

Always feeling tired
Consistant muscle soreness
Loss of appetite
Insomnia
Depression
Irritability
Weight loss
Decreased performance
Prolonged recovery
Headaches

When working out, we are always told to push ourselves in order to make a change, but there is a difference between pushing yourself and overtraining. In order to recover from overtraining, a simple change could be made to the workout routine such as reducing the rate at which the intensity of the exercise is increased. The body needs time to adjust to higher demands. Overtraining could also lead to serious injuries in overused muscles or muscle groups.

The best way to prevent overtraining is to rest between hard workouts and strength training between specific muscle groups. Make sure that a proper warm up is performed before the workout to prevent injuries, and give your body fuel after an intense workout session. What helps me is planning a workout around a meal so that afterward I can have a healthy balance of carbs, fat, and protein. Stretching will also prevent injury. It is also so important to prevent overtraining by getting an adequate amount of sleep.

Listen to your body, it knows what works for YOU best because everyone is different! If you need to take a day off, that is ok! Your body will thank you 🙂

Now to breakfast. Because I slept in, I accidentally overslept! But that is ok, coffee smoothie in the car was the way to go.