Is your body coping with the training load?

Brad Walker explains why not giving your body the rest it needs may lead to a sports injury disaster!

In this article, we are going to have a look at the difference between being just a little tired or on a down-cycle and being legitimately run down or overtired. It is crucial to be able to tell the difference if you want to stay injury-free. Nothing will put a stop to your fitness goals more quickly than not being able to recognise when you are legitimately run down and overtired. One of the biggest challenges to achieving your fitness goals is consistency. If you are repeatedly getting sick, run-down, and overtrained, it becomes complicated to stay injury-free. So, how do you keep the consistency of regular exercise, without overdoing it and becoming sick or injured? Amateur and professional athletes alike are continually battling the problem of overtraining. Being able to juggle just the right amount of training, with enough sleep and rest, and the perfect nutritional diet is not an easy act to master. Throw in a career and a family, and it becomes near impossible.

What is overtraining?

Overtraining is the result of giving your body more work or stress than it can handle. Overtraining occurs when a person experiences stress and physical trauma from exercise faster than their body can repair the damage. Now, this does not happen overnight or as a result of one or two workouts. Regular exercise is extremely beneficial to your general health and fitness, but you must remember that it is an exercise that breaks your body down. It is the rest and recovery that makes you stronger and healthier. Improvements only occur during times of rest. Remember, stress can come from a multitude of sources. It is not just physical stress that causes overtraining. Sure, excessive exercise may lead to overtraining, but do not forget to consider other pressures, such as family or work commitments. Remember, stress is stress, and whether it is physical, mental, or emotional stress, it still has the same effect on your health and well-being.

Reading the signs

At this point, there are no tests that can be performed to determine whether you are overtrained or not. You cannot go to your local doctor or even a sports medicine laboratory and ask for a test for overtraining. However, while there are no tests for overtraining, there are several signs and symptoms that you should be on the lookout for. These signs and symptoms should act as a warning bell, which will give you advance notice of dangers to come. There are several signs and symptoms to be on the lookout for. To make it easier for you to recognise them, I have grouped them into either physical or psychological signs & symptoms. Now, suffering from any one or two of the following signs or symptoms does not automatically mean you are suffering from overtraining. However, if you recognise a number, say five or six of the following signs and symptoms, then it may be time to take a close look at the volume and intensity of your workload.

Physical Signs & Symptoms;

Elevated resting pulse/heart rate
Frequent minor infections
Increased susceptibility to colds and flu
Increases in minor injuries
Chronic muscle soreness or joint pain
Exhaustion
Lethargy
Weight loss
Appetite loss
Insatiable thirst or dehydration
Intolerance to exercise
Decreased performance
Delayed recovery from exercise

Psychological Signs & Symptoms;

Fatigued, tired, drained, lack energy
Reduced ability to concentrate
Apathy or no motivation
Irritability
Anxiety
Depression
Headaches
Insomnia
Inability to relax
Twitchy, fidgety, or jittery

As you can see by the number of signs and symptoms, there are a lot of things to look out for. The most common signs and symptoms to look for are a total loss of motivation in all areas of your life (work or career, health, fitness, etc.), plus a feeling of exhaustion. If these two warning signs are present, plus a couple of the other listed signs and symptoms, then it may be time to take a short rest before things get out of hand.

Way forward

The answer to the problem Okay, you feel run down and exhausted. You have got no motivation to do anything. You cannot get rid of that niggling knee injury. You are irritable, depressed, and have lost your appetite. It sounds like you are overtrained. What do you do now? As with most things, prevention is by far better than cure, so let us start by having a quick look at a few things you can do to prevent overtraining:

Only making small and gradual increases to your exercise program over time
Eating a well-balanced, nutritious diet
Ensuring adequate relaxation and sleep
Be prepared to modify your training to suit environmental conditions. For example, on a very hot day, going to the pool instead of out in the sun.
Be able to monitor other stresses in your life and adjust
Avoiding monotonous training by varying your exercise as much as possible
Not exercising during an illness
and most of all be flexible and have some fun with what you can do

While prevention should always be your aim, there will be times when overtraining will occur, and you will need to know what to do to get back on track. Your priority is to put your feet up and take a rest. Anywhere from three to five days should do the trick, depending on the severity of the overtraining. During this time, forget about exercise, your body needs a rest, so give it one - a physical rest, as well as mental rest. There is no point in beating yourself up mentally over losing a few days of exercise. Try to get as much sleep and relaxation as possible. Go to bed early and catch a nap whenever you can. Make sure you increase your intake of highly nutritious foods and take an extra dose of vitamins and minerals.

After the initial three to five days of rest, you can gradually get back into your regular exercise routine but start slowly. Most research states that it is okay to start with the same intensity and time of exercise but cut back on the frequency. So if you would generally exercise three or four times a week, cut that back to only twice a week for the next week or two. After that, you should be right to resume your normal exercise regime. Sometimes it is a good idea to have a rest, like the one outlined above, whether you are feeling run down or not. It will give both your mind and body a chance to fully recover from any problems that may be building up without you even knowing it.

It will also freshen you up, give you a renewed motivation and help you to look forward to your exercise again. Do not underestimate the benefits of a good rest.

Article Reference

This article first appeared in:

WALKER, B. (2005) Is your body coping with the training load? Brian Mackenzie's Successful Coaching, (ISSN 1745-7513/ 24 / July-August), p. 1-2

Page Reference

If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is:

WALKER, B. (2005) Is your body coping with the training load? [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/scni24a1.htm [Accessed

About the Author

Brad Walker is a prominent Australian sports trainer with more than 15 years of experience in the health and fitness industry. Brad is a Health Science graduate of the University of New England and has postgraduate accreditations in athletics, swimming, and triathlon coaching. He also works with elite level and world champion athletes and lectures for Sports Medicine Australia on injury prevention.


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Brad Walker explains why not giving your body the rest it needs may lead to a sports injury disaster! In this article, we are going to have a look at the difference between being just a little tired or on a down-cycle and being legitimately run down or overtired. It is crucial to be able to tell the difference if you want to stay injury-free. Nothing will put a stop to your fitness goals more quickly than not being able to recognise when you are legitimately run down and overtired. One of the biggest challenges to achieving your fitness goals is consistency. If you are repeatedly getting sick, run-down, and overtrained, it becomes complicated to stay injury-free. So, how do you keep the consistency of regular exercise, without overdoing it and becoming sick or injured? Amateur and professional athletes alike are continually battling the problem of overtraining. Being able to juggle just the right amount of training, with enough sleep and rest, and the perfect nutritional diet is not an easy act to master. Throw in a career and a family, and it becomes near impossible. What is overtraining? Overtraining is the result of giving your body more work or stress than it can handle. Overtraining occurs when a person experiences stress and physical trauma from exercise faster than their body can repair the damage. Now, this does not happen overnight or as a result of one or two workouts. Regular exercise is extremely beneficial to your general health and fitness, but you must remember that it is an exercise that breaks your body down. It is the rest and recovery that makes you stronger and healthier. Improvements only occur during times of rest. Remember, stress can come from a multitude of sources. It is not just physical stress that causes overtraining. Sure, excessive exercise may lead to overtraining, but do not forget to consider other pressures, such as family or work commitments. Remember, stress is stress, and whether it is physical, mental, or emotional stress, it still has the same effect on your health and well-being. Reading the signs At this point, there are no tests that can be performed to determine whether you are overtrained or not. You cannot go to your local doctor or even a sports medicine laboratory and ask for a test for overtraining. However, while there are no tests for overtraining, there are several signs and symptoms that you should be on the lookout for. These signs and symptoms should act as a warning bell, which will give you advance notice of dangers to come. There are several signs and symptoms to be on the lookout for. To make it easier for you to recognise them, I have grouped them into either physical or psychological signs & symptoms. Now, suffering from any one or two of the following signs or symptoms does not automatically mean you are suffering from overtraining. However, if you recognise a number, say five or six of the following signs and symptoms, then it may be time to take a close look at the volume and intensity of your workload. Physical Signs & Symptoms; Elevated resting pulse/heart rate Frequent minor infections Increased susceptibility to colds and flu Increases in minor injuries Chronic muscle soreness or joint pain Exhaustion Lethargy Weight loss Appetite loss Insatiable thirst or dehydration Intolerance to exercise Decreased performance Delayed recovery from exercise Psychological Signs & Symptoms; Fatigued, tired, drained, lack energy Reduced ability to concentrate Apathy or no motivation Irritability Anxiety Depression Headaches Insomnia Inability to relax Twitchy, fidgety, or jittery As you can see by the number of signs and symptoms, there are a lot of things to look out for. The most common signs and symptoms to look for are a total loss of motivation in all areas of your life (work or career, health, fitness, etc.), plus a feeling of exhaustion. If these two warning signs are present, plus a couple of the other listed signs and symptoms, then it may be time to take a short rest before things get out of hand. Way forward The answer to the problem Okay, you feel run down and exhausted. You have got no motivation to do anything. You cannot get rid of that niggling knee injury. You are irritable, depressed, and have lost your appetite. It sounds like you are overtrained. What do you do now? As with most things, prevention is by far better than cure, so let us start by having a quick look at a few things you can do to prevent overtraining: Only making small and gradual increases to your exercise program over time Eating a well-balanced, nutritious diet Ensuring adequate relaxation and sleep Be prepared to modify your training to suit environmental conditions. For example, on a very hot day, going to the pool instead of out in the sun. Be able to monitor other stresses in your life and adjust Avoiding monotonous training by varying your exercise as much as possible Not exercising during an illness and most of all be flexible and have some fun with what you can do While prevention should always be your aim, there will be times when overtraining will occur, and you will need to know what to do to get back on track. Your priority is to put your feet up and take a rest. Anywhere from three to five days should do the trick, depending on the severity of the overtraining. During this time, forget about exercise, your body needs a rest, so give it one - a physical rest, as well as mental rest. There is no point in beating yourself up mentally over losing a few days of exercise. Try to get as much sleep and relaxation as possible. Go to bed early and catch a nap whenever you can. Make sure you increase your intake of highly nutritious foods and take an extra dose of vitamins and minerals. After the initial three to five days of rest, you can gradually get back into your regular exercise routine but start slowly. Most research states that it is okay to start with the same intensity and time of exercise but cut back on the frequency. So if you would generally exercise three or four times a week, cut that back to only twice a week for the next week or two. After that, you should be right to resume your normal exercise regime. Sometimes it is a good idea to have a rest, like the one outlined above, whether you are feeling run down or not. It will give both your mind and body a chance to fully recover from any problems that may be building up without you even knowing it. It will also freshen you up, give you a renewed motivation and help you to look forward to your exercise again. Do not underestimate the benefits of a good rest. Article Reference This article first appeared in: WALKER, B. (2005) Is your body coping with the training load? Brian Mackenzie's Successful Coaching, (ISSN 1745-7513/ 24 / July-August), p. 1-2 Page Reference If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is: WALKER, B. (2005) Is your body coping with the training load? [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/scni24a1.htm [Accessed About the Author Brad Walker is a prominent Australian sports trainer with more than 15 years of experience in the health and fitness industry. Brad is a Health Science graduate of the University of New England and has postgraduate accreditations in athletics, swimming, and triathlon coaching. He also works with elite level and world champion athletes and lectures for Sports Medicine Australia on injury prevention.