Overtraining occurs when a person partakes in too much physical training with too little rest and recovery after hard workouts. The resulting stress placed on the muscles, joints and bones causes fatigue and soreness that ultimately affects performance.
How can you tell if you are working out too much? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a minimum amount of exercise—150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical exercise per week, plus muscle-strengthening activities two days per week. But there's no recommended upper limit.
Here are some symptoms of too much exercise: Being unable to perform at the same level. Needing longer periods of rest. Feeling tired.
According to their research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, the optimal length of exercise per week is: minimum of 5 to 10 hours of moderate physical activity (42 minutes to an hour and 25 minutes daily) minimum 2 hours and 30 minutes to 5 hours of vigorous physical activity (21-42 minutes daily)
While exercise in general is healthy for our minds and bodies, overtraining is definitely possible. Signs of over-exercising include feeling of fatigue, changes in appetite, reduction in performance, proclivity for injury, and an inability to make continued progress.
Attempting more than four exercises in one workout may make the session drag, depleting focus and energy levels. However, depending on what you're doing and your energy for the day, five or more could be totally fine for you.
3-4 exercises per workout is enough to accomplish your fitness goals. If you program your workout correctly, more than 4 exercises per day can become counterproductive. You only need to focus on 6 major movement patterns when selecting your exercises.
(1) A plateau or decline in workout performance or progress. (2) A perception of increased exertion during “normal” or “easy” workouts. (3) Excessive sweating or overheating. (4) Unusual feelings of heaviness, stiffness, or soreness in muscles.
Glycogen or sugar that your muscle cells convert to glucose is the energy source for your muscles. When you exercise regularly, your body stores more glycogen to fuel that exercise. Stored in water, glycogen has to bind with water as part of the process to fuel the muscle. That water adds a small amount of weight, too.
If you're training six or seven times per week but you're not training for a specific sport, event or competition, chances are you're overtraining.
What is workout fatigue? Workout fatigue is a result of overtraining or pushing yourself too hard. It can leave you feeling tired (physically and mentally), and your body aching for long periods — and that's just the beginning.
Rest One or Two Days Per Week. For the best performance and to reach your goals in the safest and most effective way possible, plan for one to two rest days per week. Olenick recommended spacing these out — take one rest day mid-week and the other on the weekend, or in between bigger workouts.
Gaining weight after working out is likely due to muscle fiber inflammation, muscle glycogen and water weight gain, and over time, muscle mass gain. If weight loss is your goal, seeing an increase on the scale when you've been making an effort to exercise can be frustrating.
He explained that "muscle is more dense than fat, so an identical volume of it will weigh more than fat." Exercise physiologist Krissi Williford, MS, CPT, of Xcite Fitness, agreed and said even though your muscle mass weighs more than your fat, "it takes up less space, which is why you look leaner and more toned."
You're gaining muscle. The scale might be stuck because you're building up your biceps and glutes—and that's a good thing. The number on the scale is less important than the breakdown of how much water, muscle, and fat are in your body, Jovanovic says.
One of the main reasons why burning calories through exercise may still not result in weight loss is due to overexertion, or inflammation of your body. If you exercise too hard on a daily basis, there is an excess of inflammation in your body. All the added up inflammation makes you gain more weight than lose.
To recap, most people can see great results performing 2-4 different exercise per muscle group per training day, and include 4-12 different exercises paper muscle group per week as long as they are getting enough training volume throughout the week (15-20 total work sets for most people would suffice)..
Try starting with short workouts that are 30 minutes or less. As you feel your strength building, add a couple more minutes every week. The American Heart Association recommends 75-150 minutes of aerobic activity, as well as two strength-training sessions, per week.
As mentioned above you should aim for 15-25 total sets per workout with each exercise being 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps. This means you should do around 5 to 8 different exercises during that single workout if you're doing 3 sets of each exercise.
Without treatment, overtraining can weaken your immune system and may cause osteoporosis and bone loss in women. In extreme cases, heart damage and rhythm disorders can occur. Those with genetic risk factors are especially vulnerable to cardiac problems from overtraining.