Oct
2
My body is exhausted. I’m not tired, I’m getting plenty of sleep, but my body feels worn out and low on energy. I just took a walk and my legs felt like they had no strength in them. Yesterday, while I was jogging, I was barely able to finish my workout. This is the same workout I usually have no problem with. This sort of thing has been going on for about a week now and it was starting to worry me. Was there something wrong? Am I sick? Then I took a closer look at my life and I realized something, I’m working out too hard.
I’m still going to the gym 5 times a week. I’m still running 3 times a week. I’m still doing active things during the weekend. On top of all this, I’ve been using a bike for my commute for the past two months. Before that I was using a car and carpooling with friend. These days I bike about 15 miles a day as part of my commute. I also use the bike instead of the car when I go places like my friends homes.
My body doesn’t feel bad, I don’t have any aches and my appetite is still as good as ever. I just feel a bit tired, especially in my legs. I feel like I just finished a hard leg workout even though I haven’t been to the gym today. So yah, you can indeed workout too hard and that’s exactly what I think the problem is. Sometimes, your body just needs a break. My usual workout schedule has enough breaks in it, but I guess adding the biking on top of normal activities was just a bit too much. No worries, I’m taking today off. No gym, no running, no biking. I did take a short walk but that’s it. Tomorrow should be better but if I’m still feeling worn out, I might take another day off.
If you’re just starting out with exercise, you’ll want to pay close attention to what your body is telling you. Sometimes rest isn’t a bad thing. Your body needs rest to recover and repair the damage from the wear and tear you put it through. If you feel exhausted and worn out, maybe you should take a day off. Don’t make a habit of it and don’t start using it as an excuse to slack off and not exercise. Just take a day off from your usual workout schedule and then start things back up again. You’ll feel refreshed and reenergized, ready to take on the gym, the running track and anything in between.
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3 Responses to “Is It Possible To Work Out Too Much?”
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Not a regular reader of your site, but I stopped on over from The Simple Dollar. I’m not sure what your health status is (medical health, not fitness and such), but you may want to get your thyroid level checked, especially if your aches don’t go away. I have thyroid issues (or rather, lack thereof) and when I don’t take my meds regularly, I notice more aches and pains. Certainly, there are more indicators than that, so you may want to do an internet search on hypothyroidism. In any event, good luck.
Thank you Sunshine, I’ll talk to my doctor about this next time I see her. I’m not too concerned though, this seems to be a one time thing that passed rather quickly with a single day of rest.
Gal
There is no doubt that many people are in a state of overtraining without even realizing it. Whether you are training to build muscle, to lose weight, or to run a marathon, it’s easy to workout too much. Like you mention in the last paragraph, paying close attention to your body is important, and rest can be a good thing!