Connect with us

Fitness

Are You Overtraining? Ten Signs That You Need to Scale Back Your Workouts

Published

on

It’s common these days to hear frequent warnings about the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle. For most of the population, these warnings are needed, as we are, as a whole, moving less than ever before.

However, on the flip side, there is another portion of the population that is taking these warnings too seriously.

While there are plenty of people who aren’t exercising at all, there is also a significant number of people who are exercising too much.

In the same way that insufficient exercise can set you up for a number of health problems, overtraining comes with its own negative side effects, including irregular heart rhythms, chronic inflammation, weakened bones, and an increased risk of developing intestinal hyperpermeability (also known as leaky gut).

So, how do you figure out if you’re exercising too much? Read on to learn about ten common signs of overtraining.

1. You Lack Motivation

From time to time, everyone has days when they’d rather not go to the gym. But, if you feel like you’re dragging yourself through your workouts every single day, this could be a sign that you need to take a break and let your body rest.

2. You’re Always Thirsty

Another lesser-known sign of overtraining is being chronically thirsty, no matter how much water you’re drinking.

When you over exercise, your body often ends up in a chronically catabolic state. This means it’s beginning to consume its own muscle in order to get sufficient protein. This leeches water from your muscles and leaves you dehydrated.

3. Your Muscles Feel Sore All the Time

It’s normal to feel a little sore for one or two days after a difficult workout. But, if you’re still feeling sore on Thursday from Monday’s workout, you could be overdoing it.

Extended soreness is a sign that your muscles are not recovering properly, which means that you’re not going to see positive results from your strength and muscle-building efforts.

4. You Can’t Sleep

While regular, moderate exercise can help improve sleep quality, over-exercising can have the opposite effect. This is especially true if you’re exercising in the evenings. A tough workout shortly before bed can leave you feeling wired and unable to fall asleep.

5. You’re Depressed

Moderate exercise is good for mental health, but overtraining can negatively affect your mood in the same way that it can negatively affect your sleep. Overtraining often stems from poor body image and a need to “fix” certain aspects of one’s physique.

It’s easy to become obsessed with what you see in the mirror and feel a compulsive need to train. And, when you don’t see the results you’re looking for right away, you might feel frustrated or depressed.  

6. You’re Always Hungry

If you’re overtraining and not giving your body sufficient fuel, you’re likely to feel chronically hungry throughout the day. It’s important to take a step back and make sure you’re eating enough to give yourself the energy you need to get through your workouts.

7. You Get Sick a Lot

Are you always coming down with colds?

Feeling chronically ill is a sign that you’re overtraining and are no longer living a healthy, balanced lifestyle. When you’re in a continuous catabolic state, your immunity decreases and your chances of getting sick increase.

8. You Can’t Focus

Are you struggling to keep up with assignments at work or in school? Do you regularly experience “brain fog” throughout the day? This could be a sign that you’re doing too much in the gym (especially if you’re not eating enough calories on top of overtraining).

If you’re not fueling your body sufficiently and you’re placing significant demands on it in the gym, you’re not going to have enough energy left over for all the other tasks you need to accomplish.

9. You Keep Getting Hurt

Are you getting hurt more often? Are you constantly taping or bracing your ankle? Or, do you have an old injury that’s acting up?

Frequent injuries are a sign that your body is in a weakened state and is not recovering properly from your workouts.

10. You’re Gaining Weight (or Your Weight Loss has Plateaued)

Most people workout to lose weight or maintain their current physique. If the opposite is happening for you and you’re either gaining weight or have stopped seeing the number of the scale decrease, it’s important to take a look at the amount of exercise you’re doing.

While, in some cases, a plateau or weight loss regression is a sign that you need to increase the intensity of your workouts, it can also indicate the opposite. Overtraining often leads to chronic inflammation and water retention, which will make you look and feel “puffy” or bloated and will lead to a higher number on the scale.

Overtraining can also disrupt your hormones and cause chronically elevated cortisol levels. When your cortisol is too high for too long, your body may start to store fat and become resistant to your weight loss efforts.

How Often Should You be Working Out?

If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, there’s a very good chance that you could be overtraining. But, what can you do about it? How often should you actually be working out?

There’s no one-size-fits-all plan when it comes to training frequency. But, as a general rule, most people can see results from limiting themselves to 2-3 strength training sessions per week paired with moderate cardiovascular activity (walking, jogging, swimming, etc.).

If you enjoy going to workout classes like spin or kickboxing, try to only go once or twice a week. These intense classes are fun, and it’s great if they get you moving, but it’s easy to overdo them.

Keep these basic guidelines in mind as you start to give yourself a little more rest. Pair them with better sleep and possibly an increase in calories and you’ll be feeling better before you know it!

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Fitness

Making Sure you Choose the Right Footwear for Fitness Activities

Published

on

By

How To Choose the Right Footwear for Fitness Activities

Sporting goods, also known as sports equipment, are all the materials, tools, clothing, and paraphernalia used to play a sport, and vary greatly depending on the particular sport. The equipment ranges from nets, balls, gloves, and other protective gear such as full-body protective clothes for extreme sports like mountain climbing or running faster in marathons. Other equipment may be more aesthetic, like flip-flops for beach volleyball, or functional, such as running shoes.

Categories of Sporting Goods

There are two basic categories of sporting goods. One type is designed specifically for the game of the athlete; this would include athletic shoes, athletic socks, gloves, shorts, and clothing. The other type is designed for use in general exercise or recreation. General sporting equipment is widely available, although not nearly as extensive as athletic sporting equipment. However, most people would associate the term ‘sport’ with the word ‘gear’.

There is a wide variety of sporting goods available to consumers. Some are necessities, such as cleats for basketball players and padding for high school football players. You can apply finish line coupons and get lots of latest fashion footwear at a very reasonable price. Other kinds of equipment would be more fun, such as wetsuits for surfing or skateboarding, or golf clubs or tennis racquets. While some sports require specialized athletic footwear, many products for everyday wear can be purchased at reasonable prices and found at most sporting goods retailers.

Athletic and Fitness Equipment

In recent years, the international supply market for athletic and fitness equipment products has increased significantly. This has been particularly true of the US sporting goods market. The increase in cross-country skiers, snowboarders, mountain bikers, runners, weight lifters, and other athletes has created a huge demand for a variety of athletic apparel and accessories. As supply has risen, demand has decreased. For this reason, the US sporting goods industry has traditionally operated on a large size. This has given the consumer a much larger selection of products from which to choose, which has led to an increased consumer spending power.

Different Types of Exercise Equipment

An increasing number of sporting goods manufacturers are producing items for both men and women. Many of these items target the female consumer, as well as the small to the mid-sized male consumer. Additionally, several manufacturers have developed sportswear that can be worn by both men and women for various sports. Cross-country skis, snowboards, mountain bikes, kayaks, paddleboards, exercise bikes, rowers, running shoes, and many other types of exercise equipment are being designed and marketed for both genders.

Athletic Footwear

The increased size of the athletic footwear and exercise equipment market has led to the growth of several independent athletic footwear, gym, and fitness retailers. These independent companies offer both athletic footwear and exercise equipment at competitive prices and provide a wide selection of quality brands. For those who wish to have further savings, several chain stores, have also entered into the sporting goods industry. In many cases, establishments run by a single individual serve as a home base for multiple outlets, allowing the consumer the opportunity to buy many items at one location.

The Internet has become a valuable tool for shoppers searching for the latest in sporting goods. Retailers such as Amazon offer a large selection of products ranging from books, movies, music, tools, and more. The advantage of shopping on the Internet is that consumers can compare prices, find available sizes, read detailed descriptions of items, watch videos, or download and save photos of sporting equipment. In addition to these benefits, shopping online is the wave of the future for consumers looking to save money on sporting goods. By having a good sense of which sports and equipment is of interest, saving time and effort by searching the Internet for prices, or having a friendly, knowledgeable sporting good store nearby, the online shopper can put together a complete sporting gear package at a significant discount.

Continue Reading

Fitness

3 Self Care Tips for Your Best Year Ever

Published

on

By

3 Self Care Tips for Your Best Year Ever

In today’s modern world, it is very important to focus on self care. Whether you want to care for your body, mind, or heart, there are many ways to go about finding what you need for a successful year. Here are three ideas to help get you started.

Find Your Fitness Path

Fitness comes in many forms, so it is important to find what works for you and your body in order to best focus on your physical health. Working out should also be something you enjoy doing. Consider multiple options for getting in or staying in shape. Join a tennis club, start swimming, play on a local softball team, or hire a personal trainer Northern CA to help you get started on your fitness journey.

Start Something New

Goals are very important for having a good relationship with yourself. The goal you choose can be a challenge, like running an 8-minute mile, or something for you personally, like quitting smoking. Whatever you decide to work on, make sure it reflects a positive change in your life. Besides quitting bad habits, you could also focus on starting new good habits, like journaling every day, reaching out to your parents or siblings once a week, or saving money more frequently.

Make Time for Rest

People are getting busier and busier in today’s world. Between work, raising children, and other family obligations, there can be little time to relax. Rest is pivotal for taking care of yourself, so make sure to set aside time to unwind and get a healthy night of sleep. It is also beneficial to find time during the busy day for a quiet moment for yourself. There are many apps you can download on your phone that will lead you through breathing exercises, meditations, or daily prayers.

Take time for your personal health and wellness, and you will have a better year than the last.

Continue Reading

Fitness

Best Steroids for Cutting – Proper Stacks for Expected Results

Published

on

By

Best Steroids for Cutting

Some people think that anabolic steroids such as hilma biocare are only for putting on bulk. Certainly, these are very helpful in bulking phase to build muscle, but not supportive in cutting cycles.

To gain a lot from your supplement and workout routine, you can use specific fat burning supplements in cutting phase. Several steroids are designed for total weight loss only and a few to sharpen the physique and maintain lean mass.

Which Are Best Weight Loss Steroids?

Many natural steroids are formulated to shed only fat content, but it is not as simple as using an anabolic supplement and waiting for miracles to take place. The best popular natural steroids are Winstrol, Anavar, and Trenbolone. To turn expectations [melting pounds rapidly] into reality, it is necessary to blend proper nutrition and right steroid stack.

Ignoring the significance of proper stacking, users get attracted to popular ones and add them to the stack. This can hinder their cutting cycle progress. As mentioned above some steroids just support weight loss, but a few enhance your fat trimming cycle and take it to the next level.

Testosterone is crucial component of a good stack, even during the trimming cycle.

Best Steroids For Cutting

1. Clenbuterol

Clen was designed for patients suffering from asthma or breathing disorders. Soon, it became popular in the sports arena because of its anti-catabolic properties. It means fat gets burnt without affecting the muscles. Clen is thermogenic, so raises body temperature, which in turn increases metabolism. This increase in metabolic level helps convert stored calories into energy.

2. T3 Cytomel

Sometimes, Clen is stacked with T3 Cytomel. Cytomel [Liothyronine] is used in treating hypothyroidism, thyroid cancer, and enlarged thyroid glands. Cytomel is formulated to replace thyroid hormone. However, people with normal thyroid functionality apply it for weight loss. FDA strictly warns not to use T3 for obesity treatment or in weight loss program. There are many other natural steroids available, why take the risk.

3. Anavar

It is highly popular because of its negligible low side effects and efficiency in maintaining lean muscle gains in the cutting phase. Users can reduce their caloric diet without any concern about destroying lean muscle mass.

4. Winstrol

Winstrol is a powerful performance enhancer and helps to perk up muscle mass definition by shedding belly fat effectively. Body holds the gain and strength level, which can often creep in during cutting cycle.

Make sure to take right kind of steroid stack to create a toned physique. Follow proper dosage and cycle duration to eliminate the potential risk of side effects.

Continue Reading

Facebook

Trending