what are the conditions of overexertion as a newbie?

snowy0wl

I just started my fitness and starting week 2. I'm loosing mostly water weight and was curious all the exercise I'm doing from walking for hours to swimming, to some weight training, when does it become too much?

What signs should be looking for?

cheshirecatastrophe

Two weeks of walking and you're worried about overtraining?

Take at least one rest day a week, don't do what causes pain (different from the good kind of muscle soreness), stop working out if you feel like puking or fainting, and you'll be fine.

Cherimoose

Good question. Here are the symptoms of overtraining
http://www.mensfitness.com/training/build-muscle/12-signs-youre-overtraining

rrowdiness

When does it become too much?
When you get overconfident and start pushing more than your body wants you to.

Luckily your body does give casual little clues to when it's being worked too hard. These are called 'injuries'. As you progress into the wonderful world of exercise, injuries will become like angry ex-girlfriends; turning up on the scene unwanted at inopportune times, undoing all your progress, causing stress and complication to your life, and rendering you helpless with impotent rage.

What signs should be looking for?
Passing out in the shower and waking up in an ambulance did it for me. Ah, the memories. Good times.

But you might want to pay attention to aches, pains, tiredness etc. It's a rich tapestry.

giantrobot_powerlifting

Ya feel like the DOMS-Fairy stapled you to the bed? If you have, you may need to take a rest day or two.

Really, if you program your rest days correclty you might avoid overtraining. I do this, however every six to eight weeks I force myself to take a week off and on two of my four days during that break, I do a foam roll and stretching routine.

I leave the gym feeling like a found twenty.

cheshirecatastrophe

Oh! If you just mean--how much is too much exercise within the context of your life--

Remember that this whole deal is about building the life you want. If "hours" walking is interfering with the things you need to do (like work), or if it's something you're not going to be able to keep up, maybe think about how you can change your diet and exercise plans towards something that *does* fit with the life you want.

If you are worried about pushing your heart too far, get some suggestions from your doctor on what kind of exercise is best for you.

AllanMisner

I find it hilarious the number of articles on overtraining, when it is extremely difficult to get to that point. If your cardio training is less than two hours, you’re not likely overtraining. If your DOMS doesn’t prevent you from doing basic daily tasks, you’re not overtraining.

Things that may lead to overtraining:
- Training every day and not taking a rest day from time to time.
- Doing the same weight program every day
- Training hard cardio for hours
- Incorporating advanced training routines (supersets, negatives, every set to failure)

Fuel, train, rest.

snowy0wl

thanks so much for the input so far, I'm getting my heart checked out along with my liver, cholesterol counts and a ECG. I have a family history of cholesterol and heart issues so I'm going to continue what I'm doing. "moderate exercise" has been approved. ALthough I'm unsure what that is. Anything I do raises my heart to 80-90% of maximal if I push it. I can do it, I feel okay after. Still debating if I am getting headaches and trouble sleeping (with a lingering cough) is due to anything other than my left over cold or I'm eating too little at 1100 calorie (on average) deficit.

I only work out an hour a day if it's high intensity. The rest is from walking for hours.

I did take it easy yesterday so there is that. Not sure if it's a rest day since I did walk for over 2 hours.

7 days in and worried about 'over training' Yes I know. I'm new

snowy0wl

*deleted*

snowy0wl

Thanks AllenMisner, good advice

kandeye

I started my fitness pal 3 weeks ago. I went from eating pretty bad( and too much) and being quite sedentary, to counting calories and macros, starting stronglifts 5x5 and c25k. The first week was tough on my mind and body, but the second week I already felt like a different person. If you do have health restrictions it is great you are concerned about yourself before you actually hurt yourself, no shame in that . Just listen to the signs your body gives you. Feel free to add me if you want more friends

Packerjohn

How do you know your heart rate is 80-90% of max? The typical formula, 220- age, used is not very accurate.

AliceDark

snowy0wl wrote: »

Still debating if I am getting headaches and trouble sleeping (with a lingering cough) is due to anything other than my left over cold or I'm eating too little at 1100 calorie (on average) deficit.

How much do you have to lose? Are you trying to take 1100 calories off your TDEE? Your diary is all over the place, but there are definitely days when you're not eating enough. What's your actual average daily intake?

beemerphile1

A very brief and simplistic synopsis;
Exercising causes micro tears in the muscles
you gain strength on your rest days when those tears are able to heal.

dbmata

snowy0wl wrote: »

I just started my fitness and starting week 2. I'm loosing mostly water weight and was curious all the exercise I'm doing from walking for hours to swimming, to some weight training, when does it become too much?

What signs should be looking for?

rust or blood colored urine.

Short of that, you're fine.

DopeItUp

dbmata wrote: »

snowy0wl wrote: »

I just started my fitness and starting week 2. I'm loosing mostly water weight and was curious all the exercise I'm doing from walking for hours to swimming, to some weight training, when does it become too much?

What signs should be looking for?

rust or blood colored urine.

Short of that, you're fine.

Basically this. Either that or you'll know when you're overtrained. You can't sleep, your gym performance goes backwards, you start getting injured all the time, etc. It's actually pretty hard to do and I'm guessing 99% of people will never have to worry about it.

So in other words, I wouldn't sweat it a whole lot at this point.

snowy0wl

AliceDark wrote: »

snowy0wl wrote: »

Still debating if I am getting headaches and trouble sleeping (with a lingering cough) is due to anything other than my left over cold or I'm eating too little at 1100 calorie (on average) deficit.

How much do you have to lose? Are you trying to take 1100 calories off your TDEE? Your diary is all over the place, but there are definitely days when you're not eating enough. What's your actual average daily intake?

If a follow bodymedia, I"m doing 1300 in, 2560 in TDEE, leaving and average of 1100

From what I understand if I want to maintain ~1000/day, I should increase to 1800? So I don't starve and exercise for 3000? I'm a little unclear on that. Just to be clear I do have 'rest days' but I end up walking.

Yes I'm working on the consistency (I"m not sure if that's terribly important tho) on average I seem to be okay if my BMR (minus the exercise) is too low.

snowy0wl

dopitup@dbmata: thank you I probably have more concerns than actual issues. It's impossible to over train at the rate I'm doing it. I'm just starting on day 10 and until my body stabilizes in the salt content (If it hasn't already) my weight will be what it is.

Food wise I totally get it, it is all over the place, I think only the amount I consume is a concern or is there issues with the macro nutrient balance I should be concerned about.

kandeye

If you are just concerned about weight loss then calories are the only concern. But if you are going for overall health and fitness then it's wise to pay attention to the macros. I notice on days I hit around my macro goals I feel overall better ( may be psychological )

sofaking6

The only advice I would give is that if you feel run-down, sluggish and headachy on the regular, get more food or more sleep or preferably both. There's no reason to feel crappy just because you're losing weight.

AliceDark

snowy0wl wrote: »

AliceDark wrote: »

snowy0wl wrote: »

Still debating if I am getting headaches and trouble sleeping (with a lingering cough) is due to anything other than my left over cold or I'm eating too little at 1100 calorie (on average) deficit.

How much do you have to lose? Are you trying to take 1100 calories off your TDEE? Your diary is all over the place, but there are definitely days when you're not eating enough. What's your actual average daily intake?

If a follow bodymedia, I"m doing 1300 in, 2560 in TDEE, leaving and average of 1100

From what I understand if I want to maintain ~1000/day, I should increase to 1800? So I don't starve and exercise for 3000? I'm a little unclear on that. Just to be clear I do have 'rest days' but I end up walking.

Yes I'm working on the consistency (I"m not sure if that's terribly important tho) on average I seem to be okay if my BMR (minus the exercise) is too low.

This is a little confusing. There are two methods to figure out your intake: the MFP eat-back method and the TDEE method.

TDEE: Takes your average exercise into account, so you don't eat back anything. You'd cut a percentage off your TDEE. Example: if your TDEE is 3000, you'd do something like TDEE-20% and eat that number every day. This is a good site if you want to do this method: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

MFP: Calculates what you would need to eat to lose weight without exercise, based on your average level of activity without exercise. You then eat back all or some of the extra calories you burn.

You should pick one method and stick with it for at least a month to see how your body reacts.

FWIW, as long as your weekly calories average out, it's okay for your daily intake to vary. It's just hard for us to see what's going on in your diary when the totals are so different every day. You should calculate your average weekly intake to make sure it is reasonable, because your daily intake has been so up and down.

snowy0wl

@AliceDark, than you for your input. I'm realizing that all my physical measurements aren't accurate should be going up and down (like my overall weight has). I'm probably going to move to a moving average for results.

Why is it important to eat about the same calories everyday? Does it average out anyway?
I'm trying to have a 1400 intake and a 1300 caloric deficit (not sure if that will last that long).

I'm unsure if it's more important to maintain a consistent caloric deficit while not starving myself (which I don't know what level is or if my body can tolerate it).

I've always had sleeping issues and some anxiety issues with coughing (from a flu almost 12 weeks ago) and high resting heart rate, until I flush those out I'm staying the course, listening very close to my body physically, energy wise and emotionally.

When I talk to medical professional they weren't alarmed and just sent me to the next person to do the standard tests as a precaution. I think I even got my heart rate to go down which is great.

AliceDark

It's not important to eat the same number of calories every day. The only important thing is the weekly average. Do you know what yours is? The danger, if you're not tracking your weekly average carefully, is that you'll start to go higher and higher and wipe out your deficit.

A 1400 calorie average is too low for you, btw.

snowy0wl

I know what the average is, Bodymedia and my own numbers keep track of that. I do have to focus more on averages but it's so nice when you reach that good number.

I'll work on increasing that 1400 (it's actually 1550) to something more reasonable. Ramp up slowly.

colingilbert13

To me it sounds like your CNS (Central nervous system) is taxed due to lack of nutrition and being in such a caloric deficit.

snowy0wl

colingibert13, that fits, I'm working on getting to a reasonable level thanks.

dbmata

also, just give it time. Overtraining won't sneak up on ya.

I think I actually got myself into that state once last year, but I'm not quite sure training was the issue. There's some medical issues confounding that.

Work 3-4 days a week, leave everything you got in the gym, sleep well, eat right, and you'll be good to go for a long while.

snowy0wl

Damata, you touch o something that had problems before my weight trek and I don't sleep well. I don't believe it's related to my under eating aa it hasn't go worse and can sleep.

Also there is a good chance that I'm doing better than before I'm just more aware of it.