How to Prevent Nasty Over Training

It can be really annoying, you have religiously followed your diet and haven’t missed a workout session in like, forever, and yet your fat loss has for some reason just stalled! Why could this be, when you have followed all the advice of the experts out there, and are still not seeing the weight loss results that you would like?

Let me give you a reason for this phenomenon in 1 word: over training. You see exercise for weight loss is a careful balance of both training and recovery. But I know what it is like, January comes around, you decide you are going to lose the weight once and for all, and go for it at 150%!

Here is the thing, you know that you are on a crazy weight loss goal, but does your body? No it doesn’t, and says, "Wait a minute, we are taking some serious stress over here!" And needless to say, your body goes into a survival mode and starts storing fat, which is the total opposite of what you want out of your crazy exciting weight loss goal!

It’s not always the case, but often a stall in weight loss is caused by over training, which can also cause a long term decrease in performance. If you are training at high levels of intensity for long periods of time your chances of over training go through the roof!

Prevention is better than cure!

When it comes to the subject of over training, especially when you are experiencing the symptoms of it, it is really important to take preventative measures as soon as possible! Over training is a condition that grows worse with time so always be on the lookout the signs of it:

• Slower recovery after exercise
• Decreased appetite
• Decreased desire to exercise
• Increased resting heart rate
• Increased resting blood pressure
• Decreased sports performance
• Increased irritability and depressio

You’ll find that when you are busy with your exercise the point of exhaustion will come sooner and sooner despite the expectation of getting fitter over time. Also, because your body is in survival mode, you will find that your body shape doesn’t change much even though you are training harder than ever!

What if you are already suffering from over training?

This may sound counter-intuitive, but the best cure for over training is to stop any sort of training for a week or two until your body recovers. When you do recover, start slowly and try keeping your workouts short, but intense and making sure to add regular rest days into your exercise routine!

At the end of the day the best thing that you can do is to just simply listen to your body, and if you are feeling tired or overwhelmed take some time to recover. It’s more important to continue your weight loss regime in the long term than push yourself into exhaustion and quit for small short term gains!