No Pain = BIG Gain

Is Your Exercise Program Wearing You Out?

-- By Jen Mueller, Certified Personal Trainer

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We’ve all heard that a combination of diet and regular exercise is the best way to lose weight and keep it off long term.

For some of us, common sense dictates that the more you work out—and the higher the intensity—the better. But that’s not necessarily true. Even if you’ve gradually increased the intensity, duration and/or frequency of your workouts, you can still run into problems.

Have you noticed that your workouts suddenly feel harder than before, even though you haven’t changed anything? Do you feel like you are losing ground, even though you’re working hard? If so, you may be overdoing it.

The cause of overtraining is simple. You’re not resting enough to allow your body time to recover, or you’re doing the same exercises too much. Here are some common symptoms of overtraining:

Feeling tired, drained, and lacking energy
General body aches or mild muscle soreness
A decrease in performance
Inability to complete workouts
Headaches
Insomnia
Lack of motivation

If you have been overtraining, it’s not too late to get back on track! Follow these three steps:

1. Your first priority should be rest. Just a day or two probably won’t do it. Depending on how severely you’ve been pushing yourself, three to five days should give your body enough time to recover—both physically and mentally.

2. Get plenty of sleep and make sure you’re eating well, particularly during this recovery period. Focus on getting adequate amounts of protein, complex carbohydrates, and lots of fruits and veggies.

3. When you are ready to return to your exercise routine, start off slowly. Most research shows that it is okay to return to that same level of intensity, but you may need to cut back on the length and frequency of your workouts for the next few weeks. After that, you should be able to resume normal activities.

Here are some simple things you can do to avoid overtraining and burnout:

Use common sense! Work out less on days when you’re not feeling up to it. Schedule at least one or two rest days per week. Resting might mean no exercise at all, or just “active recovery,” which is light activity (an easy walk around the neighborhood, for example). Rest days should give you the feeling that you’re storing up energy.

When you push yourself through a high-intensity workout (cardio or strength training), tiny tears develop in your muscle fibers. Allowing your body to rest and recover for a day (or two) gives your hard working muscles time to repair those tears, and a wonderful thing happens—your muscles start to grow back stronger! Without ample recovery time, you continue breaking down the muscle fibers, and that’s when fatigue and injury can occur.

Incorporate a variety of activities into your exercise program. Or, if there is one thing you really enjoy, mix up your routine. Add speed or distance, increase the incline, or change your route—all of these variations can improve fitness, prevent injury, and keep your motivation high. Try different kinds of workouts within each week. For example, try an interval walking workout, a long distance walk, and a few “regular” walks at an easier speed and distance.
Don’t do too much, too soon. Some people take the “all-or-none” approach, going from a sedentary lifestyle to exercising for 45 minutes or more, 5-6 days per week. At this rate, exercise doesn’t make you feel good like everyone says it will. You’re tired, your knees hurt, and your muscles are sore. After a week or two, it’s easy to get frustrated and want to give up. Instead, increase your workouts gradually and allow adequate recovery time to reduce these symptoms.
Take care of yourself. Make sure you are eating a well-balanced diet, and getting adequate sleep. Allow for flexibility in your program. If you’re planning to walk and its 110 degrees outside, think about exercising in water, or at least avoid the heat of the day. If you’re not feeling well, give yourself a break—no guilt allowed. You may end up doing more harm than good by pushing yourself to exercise if you’re getting sick.

Exercise should make you feel refreshed and energized—not exhausted. If it’s causing fatigue, soreness, or a feeling of utter dread, listen to your body! It may be time to make a change.

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About The Author

Jen Mueller
Jen received her master's degree in health promotion and education from the University of Cincinnati. A mom and avid marathon runner, she is a certified personal trainer, certified health coach and advanced health & fitness specialist. See all of Jen's articles.

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Member Comments

DELLMEL

Great article. My hubby tell me all the time that I push myself too hard. Because at nite my left hip really pain me bad. But I fell so guilty if I don't get it in. - 5/17/2013 7:17:13 PM
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DIANNEMT

Today my legs are so sore--yesterday hamstrings, today, quads. I worked out Mon and Tuesday, rested Wed and felt better so did class yesterday and today--and now I am sore... More stretching, I guess. - 3/29/2013 5:36:30 PM
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SARAH0204

I BEEN GOING TO THE GYM FOR THE LAST 10 YRS AND I BURN OF 1000 CALORIES 3 TIMES A WEEK AND DAYS I NOT THERE I RUN FIVE MILES AND WALK 4 MILES 6 EVENING A WEEK, IM WONDERING IS THIS TO MUCH EXERCISE? I DO GET ANXIOUS IF I DON'T GET OUT AND DO SOMETHING - 10/11/2012 6:20:09 PM
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1935MARY

This is good info.I just starte recently, haven't experienced this yet. Now I know what to do if this happens. - 9/9/2012 11:10:34 AM
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AFUTCH04

This was a very helpful article that helped give me insight for my plateau :) - 7/26/2012 10:03:27 AM
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SANDIBETTS1

Thank you for reminding us that commitment should not come with dread. - 6/26/2012 7:46:40 AM
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4KWALK

I just read this article and it certainly explains why I am feeling the way I am feeling today. I just dreaded getting my bike out for another drive. I didn't want to think about walking - which I love and I didn't even want to look at an exercise video. I think I'm close to exercise burnout. I was blaming this blah feeling on food I had yesterday but maybe I am close to dropping from overexercise.
I am going to have an offday today and see how I feel tomorrow. - 6/16/2012 10:38:50 AM
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CHRIS3874

I personally don't think occasional weight training on consecutive days hurts anyone but I do know I used to weight train everyday as a kid and could never figure out why I was plateauing so often. - 3/26/2012 8:46:32 PM
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DBCLARINET

This article cleared up a lot of warning signs that I've tended to ignore. I always like to push myself hard during workouts: harder is better, and more is better. I tend to lose strength easily, and I tend to overtrain easily. I just think that if I keep pushing, I'll get past the plateau, even though sometimes four weeks into training, I feel like I'm weaker than I was when I was in week two.

In spite of that, I was never really listening to my body, and now I have a stress fracture in my right foot. The funny thing is that now my workouts are shorter and more intense (although low-impact), and my weight is easier to control. I should have listened to my body! - 1/29/2012 9:41:12 PM
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TOTALPACKAGE12

I needed this. I couldn't finish my workout today. I feel like I don't push myself enough. Maybe I am doing to much to soon. I'll slow down so that I don't injure myself. I want to sustain and keep this up. - 1/27/2012 11:14:41 AM
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GOT_MOXY

This is exactly how I've been feeling all week. I thought it was just something wrong with me, but I have been trying to push myself harder than usual. This article had some great advice, Thanks! - 1/27/2012 10:15:06 AM
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SAYCHEESEPLZ

Great article and very timely! I would have just kept pushing myself thinking I was being lazy! Thanks so much for putting things back in perspective for me! - 1/27/2012 9:55:15 AM
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ELLESSE0

This is eye-opening. I do a lot of running, but I incorporate lots of other workouts throughout the week as well, so I thought I could avoid burning out. But I've been averaging 2000+ calories per week (I'm short and weigh 125 pounds, so that takes a good deal of work), and lately I've been having trouble waking up in the morning. I'm prone to headaches anyway, but I've been getting more of them as well. Maybe I need to dial it back, try a week that's more focused on yoga and pilates than running and circuit training. - 1/27/2012 9:44:03 AM
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LEONAMINIKA

Thanx for this article, very useful information, especially for those of us who tend to think - if it doesn't hurt then ur not trying hard enough. Thanx once again. As it was said already - this is a marathon, not a sprint. - 11/30/2011 8:42:57 AM
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JANINENJ9

yep, rest is crucial for muscle recovery...for me, at age 57 rest is imperative - you just have to learn to accept that the whole fitness/weightlos
s thing will take longer than you'd like. When I get too tired, the symptoms are come on so very slowly that by the time my mental strength finally gives in (and this takes weeks usually coz I am so stubborn and focussed on this whole fitness trip), I am usually actually sick...sore chest, wheezy, headaches, even dizziness and the shakes if I keep pushing myself (weak respiratory system). If I don't rest, I get bronchitis (something you get when you are run down). Too bad my old bo' doesn't keep up with the mental strength, eh. It was defiinitely a very good article - we just need to stop feeling guilty and start nurturing ourselves a bit more. - 6/2/2011 6:54:49 AM
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