Recovery is an essential part of any well-designed training plan that we must embrace and internalize.
Overwork, or overtraining, is a very common mistake made by a significant number of popular athletes who try to imitate the elite. They force their training plans, introducing an excessive work and exercise load that ends up reducing the chances of progress in achieving their goals. In general, the workloads in the training of any popular athlete should be, logically, much lighter and softer than those of a professional athlete. A popular athlete has neither the age, nor the capacity, nor the adequate musculature to train like a professional.
When designing a training plan, the active and exercise phase is as important as the passive or rest phase. Without rest there is no progress. If we overload our body and our muscles, not only will we be much more likely to get injured, but we will also end up stagnating in our progress.after a hard workout, our muscles need rest to progress. If you don’t rest enough, you will start to lose strength and speed, you will sink into the quicksand that overtraining can be and from which it is difficult to get out.
If you are not rested, your sleep patterns and energy levels will begin to feel the effects of fatigue.
There are a number of symptoms that alert us that our body begins to accumulate fatigue. These are symptoms that we should be aware of and let them act as a traffic light to reduce our workload, introduce active rest training, or even stop completely until our body recovers. If you notice any of the following symptoms, you have trained too much and should stop. Rest to keep progressing. Recovery is an essential part of any well-designed training plan that we must embrace and internalize.
It is similar to burning out an engine. If you don’t rest, your sleep patterns and energy levels will begin to feel the effects of fatigue. Your immune system will suffer and you will begin to eat less food, you will enter a cycle that will set you back on your goals. A popular athlete who has a job, family and many other obligations needs more time to recover from physical exertion than a professional. Pay attention and listen to your body. If you have any of these symptoms, rest or do active recovery training.
Sudden weight loss
If you lose 2% of your body mass or weight from one day to the next, it means that there has been a significant loss of fluids in your body. During your last training or your last physical test, you have been poorly hydrated. This will affect your overall performance.
Elevated heart rate
Professional athletes take their pulse every morning when they wake up. In bed before getting up, if you notice a variation of 8% above your average measurement, your body has been stressed and is overloaded.
Loss of sleep
Hours of sleep are absolutely necessary. A good night’s rest, hours of sleep, releases growth hormones that significantly help muscle fibers damaged by physical exercise to regenerate. If you don’t sleep well, you don’t recover as well: reduce your level of training until you regain your sleep levels and hours of sleep.
Your urine is darker
If, when you go to the bathroom, your urine is repeatedly darker in color than normal, you are not well hydrated. Your body is warning you that it is under serious stress, as it does not have enough fluid to cover the necessary functions your body needs to perform. This is a clear indicator that you are dehydrated. Rest and hydrate.
General fatigue
If you notice that you are more tired lately, that you have less strength or that your mood is not the same, you have put your body under more stress and strain than is appropriate. Reduce the level of effort in your training.
You are more irritable
The accumulated fatigue from overtraining produces hormones such as cortisol, which causes irritability and stress while blocking the secretion of dopamine, a neurotransmitter necessary for the expression of emotions.
Your health suffers
Many of the activities you do in your daily life, such as overexertion at work, more overtime, added worry… weaken your immune system. If you are also overtrained, you are more likely to fall ill. A simple cold can be an indicator that your body needs rest.
You notice aches and pains
Whether it’s muscle soreness from finishing a marathon, or aches and pains from a bump or accidental injury, your body will need an extra dose of rest. You should extend your period of inactivity to recover properly.
Bad feelings while training
Although it may be subjective, no one knows better than you how you are training. If you have been feeling bad for a few days it is probably because you have accumulated some fatigue as a result of training beyond your capabilities.
Loss of oxygen level
If you feel fatigued, tired or irritated, you can go to the nearest pharmacy and have a test that measures your blood oxygen percentage. The higher the better, and vice versa, if it is not adequate, you should rest.
