- Not Being Excited or Encouraged to Workout
The best thing about a workout regime that you have started is that you are excited to do it again and again; that stop at the gym is something that you look forward to the most in your entire busy schedule. Many people like to work out and exercise because they can vent out all their frustration and stress by being active and energetic. Exercising is also bound to make you feel fresh and alive.
If you’re someone who looks forward to hitting the gym or can’t wait to roll out the matt to do a few stretches and suddenly you find yourself dreading this entire workout routine, and even the prospect of wearing your new gym and workout clothes isn’t exciting anymore, then this is definitely something to be alarmed by. A significantly diminished motivation to workout has been associated with being overworked; this usually happens to people who do rigorous speed and weight lifting oriented exercises.
To make matters worse, many people will assume that this decrease in vigor and excitement is due to not being passionate enough in their goals, hence they train even harder and push their bodies even more to increase the level of their enthusiasm. It goes without saying that it is extremely important to pay close attention to your body and the mental signs that it is giving you in order to be able to perform at optimum levels at all times.
We seriously recommend taking a break from your routine and just relaxing for a few days before you get back on your feet!
- Prolonged or Delayed Muscle Recovery
Many exercises such as weight lifting, muscle building exercises are designed to make your muscles, soft tissues and bones stronger. Even the minute exercises that you do such as swift walking or running will make your body perform better and become healthier, simply because your blood circulation improves.
If however you feel that your body is not responding the way that it used to and you feel like it takes weeks and days for your muscles and soft tissue injuries to get better, then your body is definitely begging for some rest. Your body needs a sufficient amount of rest after a vigorous workout session because it will use that time to work on muscle recovery and relaxing your mind and body both.
If your body is not given that break then it will get overburdened with the amount of workout that you’re doing; in case of late muscle recovery, your workout time is exceeding the post workout rest time and that just creates an imbalance in the entire process. Not to mention this is extremely unhealthy for your body and mind. So make sure in order to avoid such exhaustion, that you take plenty of time to rest and give your body the break it deserves.
- Always feeling Tired
The main aim of exercising is to keep fit and healthy; imagine your body as a motor vehicle or machine, and if you don’t keep a machine working every other day then eventually the machine will stop working or will get all rusty. Then you have to change its parts and spend a lot of time fixing it so it can start running again. However, anyone would know that the best way of getting the optimum results out of a machine is by using it regularly and maintaining it by oiling it, lubricating its parts, checking the oil, washing it, cleaning it and so forth. That’s exactly how our body functions; if you don’t remain active then your body parts such as the heart, the bones, the muscles and joints will stop working the way that they used to. So in order to live a long and healthy life, you need to be able to remain active so that your blood circulation is smooth and healthy.
If however, your body even after exercising is not working at its optimum level and you continue to feel lazy, lethargic and tired then the chances are that it’s overworked and burned out. If getting sufficient sleep is still not improving the situation then you really need to give yourself a break from exercising.
- Disturbed Sleeping Pattern
Another attribute of exercising is that it helps to improve your sleeping pattern; because after a day of healthy and solid workout, your body will be so exhausted that you tend to sleep soundly. However research shows that if your body is burned out then a point will come when you will become extremely tired to even fall asleep. This can cause an erratic behavior in your sleep cycle, causing you again to continue feeling lazy and lethargic, which will further lead you to feel unmotivated to work out or feel unproductive.
- Reduced Level in Performance
The blood circulation caused by exercise is supposed to make you think clearly, release happy hormones that make you feel productive and help you flourish and grow in every aspect of your life. However if you are working out too much then you will stop being constructive or prolific; and you will rather stay at home and avoid interaction with other people or be active.
If you are a gym enthusiast and you are alarmed with your diminishing will to continue working enthusiastically, despite your regular workouts and gym activity, then the chances are that you are really over burdening yourself; and you probably need to take a few days off from the gym.
- Feeling Very Moody
Another very prominent sign of working out too much is that you have become extremely irritable and moody. You get easily triggered with things around you; you are more impatient and get annoyed very easily. Research has shown that due to the muscle soreness, mental stress because of a hardcore workout schedule and lack of rest, you are more prone to be experiencing symptoms of anxiety, depression, irritability, confusion, anger and impatience.
Your body tends to release stress hormones when you are physically overworked in the hopes of signaling you that whatever exercise routine that you are following, is not healthy and is causing you to feel rather moody.
- Disturbed or Unusual Eating Habits
It is completely normal and expected for you to feel hungry after a vigorous workout because your body needs the energy and fuel to recover; however if you are over exerting yourself, then you will begin to notice a rather disturbed eating pattern as well. You will either begin to over eat or not eat at all. Provided these are all symptoms directly related to your mind and body feeling extremely exhausted and overworked.
If you feel like you have a diminished appetite then that is probably because your body’s metabolism is slowing down due to lack of rest and muscle recovery, and that is why it is signaling your body to not consume so much food. If on the other hand you feel like you are beginning to feel extremely hungry, then that is because you’re burning off way more than your body is consuming. The latter can leave you feeling overweight and bloated and that again is extremely unhealthy and it defeats the purpose of exercising.
- Increased Level in Injury
Increased level in muscle soreness will reduce your athletic performance as well, as your body will become more prone to getting injured. Sports injuries such as hairline fractures, muscle strains, muscle pulls, muscle raptures and inflammations will become common. These are all caused because you’re not giving your body the rest it needs to strengthen your muscles, joints, bones and soft tissues; muscle recovery needs the process of stretching and relaxing in order to rejuvenate itself so it does not wear off and become so weak that it stops supporting your dynamic exercising routine.
Remember the purpose of exercising is to make your body stronger and healthier, not weaker or brittle. So after every workout remember to warm up and after completing your routine always prioritize the routine of cooling down and stretching; only then will you be completing the entire cycle of exercising.
- Feeling Ill or Under the Weather more Often than Usual
Your bones and muscles aren’t the only things that will get compromised due to working out too much, your immune system will also suffer, making it very easy for you to fall sick or come under the weather. When your immune system gets affected the bacteria and virus that it would normally fight against will become too difficult to kill, making you feel sick and unwell.
- Feeling pain or a Strain on One Side of your Body
If you experience discomfort or pain in just one side or one part of your body like your sides, your foot or a part of your back; then that is a clear sign of over working one particular area of your body and this means you need to take plenty of rest or avoid working on that area for a while. Slight soreness or a pull may mean that if you keep working the way you do that you may be endangering yourself to get injured; hence you should take any pains, soreness or ache seriously.
Make sure to carry some first aid equipment such as wraps, bandages, soothing cream and muscle relaxant sprays with you in your gym bag, you might need it at any time.