Doing exercise makes us feel great, and that might be one of the reasons why it can be tempting to push your limits, but could that be damaging your health?
If you like doing exercise and makes you feel good, it is natural that you want to work out every day, but in the world of training, more is not more. If you overtrain and you leave little room for your muscles to recover and regenerate, it can lead to injury or a condition called exercise fatigue or overtraining syndrome.
Here are five signs it might be happening to you:
1. You are experiencing mood changes
Regular physical activity helps your body balance stress hormones and boost mood-balancing neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine, but exercise is great for your mood unless you overtrain. Doing too much exercise can imbalance stress hormones and cause mood disturbances.
2. Insomnia
Just as with mood changes, regular exercise will regulate critical neurotransmitters and sleep better. If you push too hard, however, it can cause the opposite effect and you might find it hard to sleep.
3. Elevated resting heart rate
Your resting heart rate counts the number of times your heart beats in one minute when you are resting. When you exercise regularly, the heart is stronger and more flexible and fewer heartbeats are required to function. If your heart rate spikes while resting, it may mean that your body is having to work harder to perform biological activities.
4. Your recovery time extends
Exercise is a form of stress, actually, is a form of eustress –good stress. But for your muscles to become stronger, you need to let them recover. When you rest, your muscles repair microtears and get rid of lactic acid and this is when they actually strengthen. If you don’t allow them to recover, it will result in soreness.
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