Exercise Abuse

Continued...

The signs of overtraining are primarily physical, while exercise addiction involves psychological symptoms as well.

Signs of excessive exercise

One of the first indications of exercise abuse is difficulty achieving your training goals. The workout you were doing a month ago might seem more difficult now. Maybe your speed-workout times are slower or you're having trouble lifting the same amount of weight.

Deterioration occurs when you don't give your body enough time to rest or enough fuel (food) to rebuild. Exercise is a process of tearing down and rebuilding. First you stress your system, demanding extra performance from your body Then you allow it to rest and recover, providing it with enough fuel to regain muscle strength. Without enough rest and fuel, you will begin a downward spiral of decreased performance.

Another classic sign of overtraining is fatigue - not the usual type you experience after a good workout, hut a sense of tiredness that invades your entire life. And even though you are exhausted, you may not sleep well.

This fatigue may be caused by depletion of glycogen (fuel) stores in the muscles. Researchers have found that some overtrained individuals don't have enough glycogen in their muscles. One theory maintains that women who overtrain may be undernourished for the training they're doing. Without enough fuel to get going, their bodies start to burn muscle mass. (Some fatigue can be caused by anemia. If fatigue lingers after you've had a few days of rest, see your doctor; she may prescribe supervised iron therapy for you.)

Other symptoms of overtraining include chronic muscle soreness, frequent injuries and pain in the joints or tendons. You should be able to distinguish between the occasional stiffness that accompanies an extra-hard workout and chronic muscle pain that hasn't gone away after a week or more.

Some other signs of exercise abuse include elevated morning blood pressure and resting heart rate, and an increased heart rate during less-than-all-out training. if you find that your morning pulse rate is 10 percent higher than usual, you may be overtraining.

Since the mind is connected with the body, excessive exercise can also alter your mental outlook.

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Foreword: Billie Jean King

Comments by Barb Harris
Editor in Chief,
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