You see this every day on social media channels: people posting “motivational” fitness quotes such as “No Pain, No Gain” or “If it’s not hurting, it’s not working” or “Blood, sweat and tears”. People have the wrong impression that working out so intensely that they puke will eventually make them thinner and healthier.
But this is far from the truth, and exercising too intensely can do more harm than good. In this article, we’ll have a look at the negative side effects of over-training and then we’ll see a solution to this problem.
Overtraining is the condition where someone performs excessive training from which the body is not able to recover from. Studies have shown that overtraining is actually worse than under training, having negative side effects on the body, mind and health. Plus, it can also affect your skin and overall beauty.
The Side Effects Of Overtraining
Training super intensely requires multiple days of recovery (sometimes up to 2 weeks), but people keep on pushing themselves and train super hard almost every day. The side effects are felt both physically and mentally, and they are:
- Muscle Loss – when training hard (especially when using weights), micro-tears take place in the muscles. Then, in the next days, the body rebuilds those tears, but creates a bit more muscle as well, just to be prepared for the next intense workout. The rebuilding and recovery process requires plenty of time, plenty of protein and plenty of sleep. Considering that most people don’t consume enough protein and don’t sleep enough hours, they would need at least a week to recover, even if they wouldn’t work out at all in that time. But some continue to do intense workouts even with a bad diet and with not enough rest. So not only that the muscles don’t get a chance to rebuild themselves, but they end up being torn down over and over again. So that person loses muscle, which eventually slows down their metabolism.
- Joint Pain – if someone performs high-intensity workouts with a bad form on the exercises, they will end up with achy joints.
- Difficulty in Sleeping – overtraining can interfere with your sleeping pattern and you will have a hard time falling asleep.
- Getting Ill Frequently – working out too much and too hard will weaken the immune system. The combination of muscle loss, exhaustion and lack of sleep will make you get sick more often.
- Sore Muscles – when you start any form of exercise it’s normal to have a slight pain in the muscles. Normally this will go away in a few days. But with overtrained people, the pain does not go away and it can last for weeks.
- Fatigue – workouts are meant to make you feel good and energized. But if you overdo it, you will feel sluggish and exhausted, and will not look forward to the next workout or to any physical activity whatsoever.
- Mental Side Effects – overtraining for a long time can also give feelings of depression, anger, apathy and irritability. They go hand in hand with the lack of sleep.
- Skin Problems – some forms of exercises can create wrinkles and stretch marks, while hot yoga can make people dehydrated. Overheating and sweating can leave those with sensitive skin with added irritation. Also, people with rosacea or eczema will have worse skin after intense exercise. Sweating with makeup on and then sitting for minutes in the car without showering can cause acne breakouts. Frequent sweating can also cause dandruff to appear or to get worse. And last but not least, there is the issue of thigh chafing (thighs rubbing together and causing irritation and rashes).
The Solution
Being fit and healthy does not require strenuous and stressful exercises. You can look and feel great even with no gym sessions or cardio workouts. And when it comes to losing weight, 90% of the process takes place in the kitchen, not in the gym.
Yoga and Pilates can offer you a fit, flexible and balanced body, without requiring you to train so hard that you get “blood, sweat and tears”. The health benefits of these 2 activities include:
- Improved flexibility
- Increased muscle tone
- Balanced muscular strength
- Improved posture
- Improved balance
- Relaxation
- Prevention of injuries
- Increased lung capacity
- Improved concentration
- Improved body awareness
- Less stress
- And much more
In case you need a healthy diet approach, mindfulness coaching or Yoga & Pilates classes, the Abbysan Center is here to help. You can start with our 30-days Jump Start Program, which includes UNLIMITED group Yoga and Pilates classes, as well as posture screen, body metrics, a goal setting and strategy session and more.
If you also want to lose weight, sleep better and have more energy, we also invite you to check out our 10-Day Detox Program. Feel free to contact us for any questions you might have. The experienced trainers at the Abbysan Center are here to help!