The Effects of Overtraining
As I remembered a time when I went through overtraining years ago when I fucked up my back really bad and why I was a fucking idiot not listening to my body, I had to take a break from working out.This literally pissed me off so much that I went back home in pain that I decided to study what "Overtraining" is that my physical therapist told me about.
So I really want to tell you a quick story before we dive in to the effects of overtraining, what it is and why you must value active recovery.
A Story of Overtraining
Years ago, I attempted to do slow eccentric pull-ups and I felt a muscle completely shift in my back and I have no idea what just happened.
Other than the fact that at that time I'd say that I wasn't careful as I didn't want to use a band to modify the slow eccentric pull-up.
Then it hit me when I saw Julie (the physical therapist).
"Adam you pulled a back muscle, this requires you stop all of your favorite back workouts."
Fuck, this really got under my skin. If there is one thing I hate doing more than anything, that is taking a break from doing my workouts.
At that time, I was literally brainstorming my own routines (testing exercises) and how I can help people get in shape.
Overtraining hit me in the fucking face, and I got so damn frustrated and at that time I was young, kinda careless, didn't really look out for my own recovery.
The Effects of Overtraining
Courtesy to the National Exercise & Sports Training Association, this is a graph of what Overtraining looks like.
Do you lift weights? Cool, I'm proud of you. If the program tells you to rest 90 to 120 seconds after deadlifting, DO IT.
Do you often do High Intensity Interval Training? After doing an intense exercise, take a quick break if you feel yourself panting. This is why I suggest a heart rate monitor in my conditioning article.
Brother, it doesn't matter what style of training you are doing, even if you are a long jumper and you gotta do plyometrics, you can't just pound your body and then throw up everywhere and call that "HARD WORK."
There are trainer's out there that do this and I slap my fucking forehead because I doubt they retain clients.
Overtraining is very real and if you were smart, you'd watch how much you push your limits, that's why I ALWAYS encourage a heart rate monitor.
You'll never find your anabolic threshold without a heart rate monitor.
Overtraining Defined
Overtraining is classified and defined as "Constant intense training with inadequate recovery time." (Courtesy of ACE Blog)
Brother, this is very serious, in fact I came across someone on one of my TikTok videos as he admitted to me...
"I did 500 parallel bar dips and hurt myself."
Even though I rarely go on there anymore just cause of the immaturity of haters and trolls...
I actually compassionately told him...
"Brother, that's too much, slow down. You'll get hurt doing that many reps."
So let's take this in to consideration and don't overtrain. As I already said, I made this mistake, and I'm seeing this in many other men that don't listen to their body.
Men Must Listen to Their Body
As I'm writing this article, I actually just trained one of my clients and we both had a conversation about how men are in fitness...
We both came to the conclusion that men take things to the extreme and they hardly listen to their body.
This also applies to me as sometimes I do go VERY hard in the gym, and as you know from the story in the very beginning...
I'm not perfect. This is something that most trainer's don't touch upon. They attach their ego to their accomplishments and transformations.
Fixed Mindset Stops You From Asking For Help When You Get Hurt
I encourage you to listen to this podcast, you'll hear me tell the story of what happened when I pulled my back muscle.
Because I told myself, "I don't need a trainer."
This is the whole important point to this entire article, men are like all-or-nothing junkies when it comes to fitness.
You'll hear a ton of people say this comment all the time because they just want free shit and they never really want to pay for a workout to work with a trainer.
I had this mentality years ago, where did that land me?
OUT OF MY FUCKING FITNESS JOURNEY FOR SIX MOTHER-FUCKING MONTHS.
I always touch upon mindset in virtually all of my articles, so this must be covered. Here's my advice to you if you get hurt...
"Don't assume you can figure it all out on your own."
Trending: Go From 0 pull-ups to 5 pull-ups in just one week!
Active Recovery Prevents Injury
Here's an active recovery workout that I suggest you do brother.
To be clear, I have another YouTube channel I just launched and I prefer you go subscribe to that one.
Because I am much more active on that YouTube channel. Anyway's here's the all important point behind this active recovery workout...
When you work your corrective muscles, you prevent injury. Not only do you prevent injury, you hit the muscles that most people overlook.
This workout targets upper back, mid back, lower back, glutes, and hamstrings. Do you see how this can literally save you from getting hurt?
Just one active recovery routine can get you going back to the gym and prevent DOMS, that is delayed onset muscle soreness.
Effects of Overtraining
Report: These 7 Foods Will Aid in Weight Loss
Here's the big caveat behind this entire section...
Do NOT use any of these effects as an excuse to stop working out.
Because that's just choosing the easy way out and hate to call you out, but that's you being a fucking coward.
Especially if you are an avid reader of my blog, you already know I call out weakness frequently. Without further ado, here are the effects:
- Persistent soreness that doesn't go away after three days*
- Persistent fatigue from physical activity*
- Decreased performance*
- Sleep disturbances*
- Loss of appetite*
Read this resource that I found my friend, you'll notice that this is all very real symptoms. And you'll notice this is what I've found in my research to tell you the effects of overtraining. [R]
Now here's what I what you to do, if you have any of these symptoms, simply just take one week off and do light jogging for working out and some active recovery workouts.
Don't forget have the right eating habits as this is the most important part to living a healthy, more fulfilling life. This can and will help you to get better from overtraining. [R]
The Bottom Line
Overtraining is very real and if you were smart, you'd not drink a million pre-workouts just to overdo some big lifts such as bench pressing and deadlifting.
This is what guys do all the time, and then they wonder why they stop their fitness journey altogether.
It's because getting hurt fucking sucks ass. And if you have gotten hurt, I suggest you find a chiropractor or a physical therapist.
But, but, "doesn't that cost a fortune?"
Are you fucking kidding me? Come on bro, don't piss me off. Your body deserves to feel better and you ignoring your injuries is you NOT LISTENING TO YOUR BODY.
I'd rather you spend some spare cash to get that shit taken care of. Or you can let that shit stay there, what you resist, persists my friend.
Here's my final point, don't make the mistake I did when I had a 'fixed mindset' and didn't want to ask out any guidance.
That was honestly a stupid decision I made and I will fully own that. I'm glad I learned the lesson I did, because now I know better.
Do me a favor my friend, and feel comfortable comment down below if you are experiencing any effects of overtraining. I'm here to help you my friend.
Sometimes you gotta get your thoughts out because holding back, you suppress the problems you have. I want to hear from you. See you later man!
