Fitness
Are you overtraining? Don't miss these 9 key signs!
Why a lack of motivation might mean you're working out too hard – and when to go and see a doctor.
We’re all keen to train hard and improve in whatever sport we love doing – that goes without saying. There’s nothing better than getting the pay-off from all your hard work with improved race results, personal bests and victories.
Problem is, often this enthusiasm in training can mean we step beyond our capabilities, creating a deep fatigue that can do more harm than good. We sat down with British Rowing Start Coach, Dan Harris, to help us identify the signs that we could be overtraining.
01
Your heart rate is erratic
“We always monitor resting heart rate from a benchmark,” says Harris, explaining that the best measure of resting heart rate is when it’s taken upon waking.
Measuring heart rate, like Aidan Heslop, helps keep tabs on your health
© Joerg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool
“If it reads 10 beats (or more) higher than the benchmark on any given morning, we back our athletes right off – even send them home,” he continues, “seven or more and we’ll look at adjusting sessions to reduce intensity and load. In the case of a simple cold or general fatigue, we’ll take one or two days easy or off.”
02
You can't perform to your normal level
We’ve all been there – those days or weeks when we just can’t achieve the performance we’d normally expect. Harris says that this should be taken as a powerful indicator of overtraining.
“Normal levels of training will feel significantly harder if you’re overtrained,” he says. “If this happens as a one-off, that’s OK as it probably means you’re simply tired from a previous session,” he continues. “Look out for this inability to perform in your low-level, low-intensity training, as this can give a clearer indication on your overall fatigue than something like High Intensity Interval Training.”
Always monitor performance levels and fatigue
© Markus Berger/Red Bull Content Pool
03
You feel deep fatigue
Harris also explains that fatigue can be physical and psychological. When you’re overtrained, you can suffer with both (and quite often do).
“I find that mental fatigue is a big factor – you just can’t focus on the things you need to in training,” he says. “At the same time, post-workout soreness may last longer than it usually does, so it takes longer to recover and that compounds the feeling of tiredness!”
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04
You have reduced quality of sleep/ insomnia
You may think that it would be easy to sleep if you’re overtrained and tired as a result – but it’s important to recognise what quality sleep actually means.
“Overtrained athletes can find that they just want to sleep all the time, rather than when they should at night,” says Harris. “For example, they may nap for a long time in the middle of a day to ‘catch up’, then can’t get good sleep when they need it most.” “Overall, this lack of sleeping properly in normal and natural sleep cycles has a detrimental effect on recovery,” he says.
Overtrained athletes can find that they just want to sleep all the time
05
You experience low moods
When you take a sport seriously – either as a professional or an amateur – your state of mind and overall mood is inevitably affected by it. The axe swings both ways, with the endorphins we get from good performance balanced by the disappointment of not performing as we want.
Harris explains: “If you’re feeling low around your training, this can be as a direct result of your fatigue, but I’ve found it can also stem from simply being fed up; not being sure what the actual cause is. Bear in mind that once you do take time off to recover, you can still stay quite low for a while. That’s OK – after all, you want to be training, right?!”
06
You keep getting injured
Avoid overtraining and you reduce your chance of injury
© Markus Berger/Red Bull Content Pool
One thing common to all athletes is the aches and pains that come as a result of pushing their bodies to their limits, and often beyond. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – it’s what stimulates adaptation and improvement – but Harris says that if you’re overtraining, issues can arise much more often.
“Little niggles are common when you’re training hard, but they happen a lot more when you’re pushing it too hard,” he says. “Try to catch them early and back off training instead of pushing through them.”
07
You keep getting sick
With rowers often completing three training sessions a day, sometimes in challenging conditions on the water, Harris is well-placed to highlight how overtraining can lead to illness.
Don't go too hard, too often to keep your immune system in shape
© Lukas Pilz/Red Bull Content Pool
“Having a low immune system is a big sign of overtraining,” he says. “If you keep getting colds, coughs and infections, this is a natural result, as is not being able to shift something as simple as a cold. “Ignored, it can develop into something much more difficult to treat like full-blown flu or worse. Like injury niggles, always try to catch illnesses early to help your recovery.”
08
You have no motivation
Despite the fact that we generally love training and racing, when you’re overtrained Harris says that it’s entirely possible that you can suffer from a complete lack of motivation that can be at odds with your normal character.
“After a harder week of training, it can leave you on the edge,” says Harris. “While that’s often the point of a tough block of training, you can find it harder to get up and get going.
“If motivation becomes an issue, I sit down with my athletes and refocus them on their goals,” he continues. “We take a short-term approach to give them that achievable goal again. Talking to a coach about resetting goals can be motivational in itself as there’s someone else invested in it too.”
If motivation becomes an issue, refocus on your goals
© Markus Berger/Red Bull Content Pool
09
You've stopped improving
Another more subtle result of overtraining is the plateau effect, where your performance simply stagnates. While this is common when not increasing training intensity, it can also occur when you push yourself too hard.
“You can stop seeing improvements in your performance or benchmarks, as opposed to feeling particularly tired or ill,” claims Harris. “The week after a big week of training can be a real struggle as we’ve already mentioned, and you can find that your performance can level or even drop steadily instead of improve.”
10
Getting back on track
If you think you might be struggling with overtraining thanks to recognising some of these common signs, Harris has some quick-fire advice to help you get yourself back on track:
Get back on track with your training and you'll reap the rewards
© Stefan Voitl/Red Bull Content Pool
- It’s always best to catch tiredness earlier rather than later. If it doesn’t improve after a week of less work, speak to a doctor.
- Try to err on the side of caution, especially when it comes to endurance sports. Be consistent and build your engine over time.
- Regulate yourself by setting your resting heart rate benchmark so you can spot a higher resting heart rate before it becomes a bigger issue.
- Analyse your performance. Use your data driven and objective metrics to make it easier to spot drop-offs and declines.
- Listen to your body! It’s not soft to ease off and take more recovery if you need it. Be up front about how you’re feeling with your coach.