9 Signs Your Body Might Give You That You’re Overdoing Your Exercises

You already know what the main advice is to avoid obesity and reduce the risk of a multitude of diseases: exercise. And really, no one can deny that staying active has many benefits for your body and mind.

However, there is a maxim that says that “anything in excess is bad”, and this is no different in relation to exercises. This usually happens to people who already follow a tough workout routine, but become obsessed with the results for some reason and end up overdoing it. In this case, it is inevitable that your body will start to show some signs that it is being overloaded, like these nine presented below:

1. You take a long time to recover

Being out of breath for several minutes, feeling that your arms and legs are no longer responding, and being completely exhausted are clear signs that you have pushed yourself beyond your limits and that it may be better to reduce your exercise load a little.

Other signs of overtraining are continuing to be thirsty even after drinking two liters of water and feeling a lot of pain after finishing your physical activity.

2. You feel weaker

When we exaggerate in physical exercises, one of the body’s responses is to activate our defense system, making muscle fibers take longer to recover and you feel weaker. Likewise, your body will take longer to recover from a simple cold.

3. Your heart rate increases in the morning

Another effect of excessive exercise is a change in heart rate. A good clue to check if this is happening to you is to measure your heart rate in the morning, before you get out of bed, and at rest times during the day.

If the frequency is higher when you wake up, this could be a sign that you are exercising too much and your body is not recovering as it should.

4. It’s harder to fall asleep

While a regular routine of physical activity improves sleep quality, overload has the opposite effect. This is because excessive training stimulates the production of stress hormones, which lead to insomnia even if you are tired.

5. Your body hurts for several days

A very strenuous, repetitive exercise routine with no rest between workouts can make you feel intense pain in any part of your body, even if you don’t go to the gym. In addition, you may experience cramping, muscle spasms, and tingling.

6. You are always tired, even mentally

While muscle fatigue is an obvious consequence of over-exercising, mental fatigue sometimes goes unnoticed. However, an overload in training can decrease your concentration, your memory and your performance at work or studies, as well as making you feel low on energy to have fun with your friends or bond with your family.

7. You are no longer evolving

An overworked organism understands that it is under threat and slows down its metabolism in order to maintain its reserves for emergencies. For example, if your goal is to lose weight and you’re no longer seeing results even though you’ve increased your training, maybe you’ve exceeded your body’s limits.

Also, if your body is exhausted, your performance will decrease and you won’t get the muscle gain you dreamed of at the same rate as before.

8. Bad mood takes over you

You already know that practicing physical activities stimulates the release of endorphins, substances that promote our well-being. However, as with sleep, too much exercise has the opposite effect on our mood, making us constantly irritable or anxious.

If that’s the case for you, you might want to trade a trip to the gym for a more relaxing activity, like getting a massage or simply staying at home and watching a movie.

9. Do you feel sad and frustrated when you think about training?

You’re sore, tired, irritable, and to make matters worse, you’re not seeing results. It’s no wonder you’re going to feel frustrated about your workouts, because apparently they’re not offering anything positive. However, the solution is not to increase the load of exercises, but to find the most suitable dose for your body.

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, the best course of action is to seek the assistance of a fitness professional to help you find the right rhythm. Balancing training, rest and other activities is critical to keeping your body and mind healthy.

The information contained on this page is for informational purposes only. They do not replace the advice and follow-up of doctors, nutritionists, psychologists, physical education professionals and other specialists.