EXERCISE IS BAD FOR YOU...
chivalryder
Posts: 4,391 Member
... if you do too much too soon...
I felt like making this post because I am seeing more and more people on here who are going crazy with their workouts. I see some people who go for long runs in the morning, P90X or Inanity in the afternoon, and strength train in the evening, then get 6 hours of sleep or less, just to do it again the next day, without taking a full day off for rest.
I won't try to convince them to pull back, because it's not my place, but I feel it would be wise to share some good information with everyone on here.
By working out at a high intensity, or ramping up your workouts quickly, especially without good rest, puts you at high risk of over training. Over training is simply when you put your body through more stress than it is accustomed to for an extended period of time. The symptoms of over training are as follows:
Common Warning Signs and Symptoms of Overtraining Syndrome
- Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
- Mild leg soreness, general aches and pains
- Pain in muscles and joints
- Sudden drop in performance
- Insomnia
- Headaches
- Decreased immunity (increased number of colds, and sore throats)
- Decrease in training capacity / intensity
- Moodiness and irritability
- Depression
- Loss of enthusiasm for the sport
- Decreased appetite
- Increased incidence of injuries.
- A compulsive need to exercise
http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/overtraining/a/aa062499a.htm
Most professional athletes have experienced it, as it is a very common occurrence. It is especially common in beginners because they feel the need to workout more and more, in order to burn off the weight as quickly as possible.
The last symptom is especially scary, because if you are over training, you may feel the need to keep pushing harder and harder, while getting upset and depressed with yourself because you aren't getting any faster, and are actually getting slower and weaker.
If you suspect you're suffering any of these symptoms, take a day off and see how you feel the next day. It doesn't take long for you to recover from over training. All you need is rest.
The best way to prevent over training from happening in the first place is to measure your heart rate in the morning, right after you wake up, and before you get out of bed. Simply check it with two fingers over the artery in your neck, and count the number of beat in one minute. I avoid counting more 15 seconds, because multiplying it by 4 increases the risk of error. That is your resting heart rate. It should be consistent every morning, and over time, as you become stronger, it will gradually decrease over time.
If one morning, it is elevated by 5 bpm or more, your body is under stress, and you should take it easy that day. If it is up by 10 bpm or more, then you're either over training, or you have an illness coming on. It is strongly recommended you take that day off and see how you feel the next day.
Keep a log of your waking heart rates. Over time, you will be able to see a trend, and you will learn more about yourself as time goes by. Knowledge is power, and with this power you will be able to train better and harder!
Another way to prevent over training is by starting out EASY, and increasing your intensity, duration, or distance by no more than 10% every week, month, and year. Also give yourself "plateaus" and rest weeks to give your body a break from the ever-increasing stress you are giving it. Do your best to keep all this logged as well so you can look back on it and see how well you're doing!
I realize this is a double post. I just needed a more eye-catching name. Obviously exercise isn't bad for you, but you can over do it, and it isn't hard to do.
I felt like making this post because I am seeing more and more people on here who are going crazy with their workouts. I see some people who go for long runs in the morning, P90X or Inanity in the afternoon, and strength train in the evening, then get 6 hours of sleep or less, just to do it again the next day, without taking a full day off for rest.
I won't try to convince them to pull back, because it's not my place, but I feel it would be wise to share some good information with everyone on here.
By working out at a high intensity, or ramping up your workouts quickly, especially without good rest, puts you at high risk of over training. Over training is simply when you put your body through more stress than it is accustomed to for an extended period of time. The symptoms of over training are as follows:
Common Warning Signs and Symptoms of Overtraining Syndrome
- Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
- Mild leg soreness, general aches and pains
- Pain in muscles and joints
- Sudden drop in performance
- Insomnia
- Headaches
- Decreased immunity (increased number of colds, and sore throats)
- Decrease in training capacity / intensity
- Moodiness and irritability
- Depression
- Loss of enthusiasm for the sport
- Decreased appetite
- Increased incidence of injuries.
- A compulsive need to exercise
http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/overtraining/a/aa062499a.htm
Most professional athletes have experienced it, as it is a very common occurrence. It is especially common in beginners because they feel the need to workout more and more, in order to burn off the weight as quickly as possible.
The last symptom is especially scary, because if you are over training, you may feel the need to keep pushing harder and harder, while getting upset and depressed with yourself because you aren't getting any faster, and are actually getting slower and weaker.
If you suspect you're suffering any of these symptoms, take a day off and see how you feel the next day. It doesn't take long for you to recover from over training. All you need is rest.
The best way to prevent over training from happening in the first place is to measure your heart rate in the morning, right after you wake up, and before you get out of bed. Simply check it with two fingers over the artery in your neck, and count the number of beat in one minute. I avoid counting more 15 seconds, because multiplying it by 4 increases the risk of error. That is your resting heart rate. It should be consistent every morning, and over time, as you become stronger, it will gradually decrease over time.
If one morning, it is elevated by 5 bpm or more, your body is under stress, and you should take it easy that day. If it is up by 10 bpm or more, then you're either over training, or you have an illness coming on. It is strongly recommended you take that day off and see how you feel the next day.
Keep a log of your waking heart rates. Over time, you will be able to see a trend, and you will learn more about yourself as time goes by. Knowledge is power, and with this power you will be able to train better and harder!
Another way to prevent over training is by starting out EASY, and increasing your intensity, duration, or distance by no more than 10% every week, month, and year. Also give yourself "plateaus" and rest weeks to give your body a break from the ever-increasing stress you are giving it. Do your best to keep all this logged as well so you can look back on it and see how well you're doing!
I realize this is a double post. I just needed a more eye-catching name. Obviously exercise isn't bad for you, but you can over do it, and it isn't hard to do.
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Replies
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Thank you for posting... My first day in two weeks break from exercising and I've always had those symptoms haha! I am not even getting up to leave my bed, but this morning I wanted to exercise more! I made myself lay down, because I haven't been getting but less than 4-5 hrs sleep everynight... I haven't even slept today, and I been just laying here.
I think I'm getting to obsessed with it still!!!! 0 -
Thank you for posting... My first day in two weeks break from exercising and I've always had those symptoms haha! I am not even getting up to leave my bed, but this morning I wanted to exercise more! I made myself lay down, because I haven't been getting but less than 4-5 hrs sleep everynight... I haven't even slept today, and I been just laying here. I think I'm getting to obsessed with it still!!!!
I'm happy to see that I have at least helped one person from posting this thread.
Take it easy for a while before you get back into a routine. If you're new to exercise, only do it every other day, and SLOWLY build up. 0 -
Everything is bad for you....if you do it too much. Since I joined MFP I've been in the ER twice with active related injuries. Should have gone to the ER a handful of other times, and have had bumps, bruises, nicks, cuts, bites, dehydrated, sore, & puked all in the name of being active and having fun.
But you know what? I feel so much better than during my former life. AND I don't get yelled at by the doctors to get my weight down, and my BP under control.
When discussing this with a few MFP freinds we came up with this saying: Exercise hurts, being unhealthy will kill you!0 -
Everything is bad for you....if you do it too much. Since I joined MFP I've been in the ER twice with active related injuries. Should have gone to the ER a handful of other times, and have had bumps, bruises, nicks, cuts, bites, dehydrated, sore, & puked all in the name of being active and having fun.
But you know what? I feel so much better than during my former life. AND I don't get yelled at by the doctors to get my weight down, and my BP under control.
When discussing this with a few MFP freinds we came up with this saying: Exercise hurts, being unhealthy will kill you!
There's a different between falling on your face while mountain biking and over stressing your body from doing too much. Over training is nearly as bad as no training at all. Exercise should hurt, but when you start sacrificing your health because of exercising, you're doing it too much.0 -
I was at a health symposium on Saturday and one of the speakers likened working out hard all the time to revving your car engine all the time. He said that doing it would cause you to burn out, just as revving your engine allthe time would cause your engine to burn out.0
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I was at a health symposium on Saturday and one of the speakers likened working out hard all the time to revving your car engine all the time. He said that doing it would cause you to burn out, just as revving your engine allthe time would cause your engine to burn out.
Yeah, that's pretty much it. Like an engine, your body will start to overheat, lose power, and eventually break...0 -
Keep in mind that over-training can be something different for the next person. I workout 7 days a week 1 hour a day which people would say is too much, but someone I know can be doing 7 days a week 3 hours a day which they think is just fine and vice versa.
Alot of people who have addictive personalities will also become addicted to the gym and that will keep them going. Different topic I know, but there are many reasons someone over trains.0 -
Keep in mind that over-training can be something different for the next person. I workout 7 days a week 1 hour a day which people would say is too much, but someone I know can be doing 7 days a week 3 hours a day which they think is just fine and vice versa.
Alot of people who have addictive personalities will also become addicted to the gym and that will keep them going. Different topic I know, but there are many reasons someone over trains.
It's mostly a matter of listening to your body. If you've slowly built up to doing 1 hour/day, 7 days/week, you can probably handle it fine. You might get better results if you took a day off, but I'm just saying that. Not telling you to do so. If you're not experiencing any symptoms, you're fine.
Not all professional athletes take any days off. They would alternate intense and easy days, but they often don't take much time off, except for the day before a big race, and during the off-season. For example, the guys in the Tour de France: There are 2 rest days in 3 weeks, but nearly every single cyclist will be out riding on their rest day. They won't be going hard or long, but they still go!0 -
Thank you for the reminder. I get in the mode where I think I HAVE to go exercise when my body is telling me it is tired. When I do listen to my body and take a day off, the next exercise day seems so much more productive!0
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Yup, I was thinking of a slow run today, seen as I am still tired and sore from yesterday, then I was thinking, wait, if I go slow I could go far...
And then I had to stop myself thinking and tell myself to take the day off, so I can go on a long run tomorrow...
I KNOW running is hard on the body, and doing too much of it (too soon) will lead to injuries. But it feels good and I have to actively stop myself from doing too much. And staying home, I then have to stop myself from being stupid and doing something else instead.
ah well, at least I am aware of what I am doing. Besides, I run so much faster and easier after 2 full days of rest - its almost worth it :happy:0 -
Your gonna have muscle soreness, thats how they improve, if you take all these days off, nothing will happen???0
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Your gonna have muscle soreness, thats how they improve, if you take all these days off, nothing will happen???
Muscle soreness is your body repairing the damage done by the exercise you did. If you do not allow your body to finish healing before you exercise again, you will damage it even more, and it will take longer to repair the damage.
Keep this up for a long time, and your muscles will simply stop working.
HOWEVER, if you go for a short, EASY rung/walk/bike ride/swim/whatever, you will increase blood flow to the damaged muscles, which will speed up recovery, which will allow you to push harder the next day.0 -
Brilliant post.
I'm at the stage of just starting to exercise again. Started off with a few miles of cycling and after a week I find the need to cycle every day 10 miles plus. I'm finding it harder and harder even though I should be finding it easier. I have the slight muscle ache however I put this down to having not exercised for a while.
Now I know I should take a break for a bit 0 -
A good reminder to listen to our boddies.
Tody mine loudy proclaimed it needed a day off from everything.0 -
If you exercise frequently and you are the type that enjoys pushing your workouts to the max....crosstrain!
I am a group fitness instructor, runner and a triathalete. I train or workout everyday in some capacity, but there are two things that make me strong and able to push myself on days that I need to: crosstraining, and proper form.
When I run long races, i.e. marathons and half marathons, I don't run everyday for training. I do one long run at long run pace, say 9:30 to 10 minute mile. The rest of the week I do short runs a little faster (7:30-8) about 2-3 miles. I teach step a few times, cycle a few times, I swim a few times, Pilates, and Body Pump/Group Power. This mix is good for my body. Of course I'm not normal, LOL, and most people won't exercise this much as it is part of my livelihood. So for people who are just training or working out, please don't overdo one exercise, mix it up and cross train. This will help give you muscle balance and overall good muscle tone.
Diet is also important when you frequent exercise. If you are hard on your muscles, eat a little more protein than normal and lots of fruits and veggies. Also, make sure you keep some carbs in your diet for fuel on endurance exercises.
I've said this to many of my students and prospective students "Exercise is not bad for you, doing it incorrectly will hurt you though"
Happy Training!0 -
If you exercise frequently and you are the type that enjoys pushing your workouts to the max....crosstrain!
I am a group fitness instructor, runner and a triathalete. I train or workout everyday in some capacity, but there are two things that make me strong and able to push myself on days that I need to: crosstraining, and proper form.
When I run long races, i.e. marathons and half marathons, I don't run everyday for training. I do one long run at long run pace, say 9:30 to 10 minute mile. The rest of the week I do short runs a little faster (7:30-8) about 2-3 miles. I teach step a few times, cycle a few times, I swim a few times, Pilates, and Body Pump/Group Power. This mix is good for my body. Of course I'm not normal, LOL, and most people won't exercise this much as it is part of my livelihood. So for people who are just training or working out, please don't overdo one exercise, mix it up and cross train. This will help give you muscle balance and overall good muscle tone.
Diet is also important when you frequent exercise. If you are hard on your muscles, eat a little more protein than normal and lots of fruits and veggies. Also, make sure you keep some carbs in your diet for fuel on endurance exercises.
I've said this to many of my students and prospective students "Exercise is not bad for you, doing it incorrectly will hurt you though"
Happy Training!
I was considering adding something about cross training, but I don't know enough on that subject matter to make a argument. I know it is good for you, but I don't know if you can really go 7 days/week hard workout, even if you switch it all up. I guess if you implement strength training, you could?0 -
Bump for later!0
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Ahaha, I wish I was compelled to exercise.
Good post, though.0 -
bump0
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