There’s a basic law of living that goes like this:
If you want more, do more.
It applies more or less across the board. You tend to get out of life in proportion to what you give.
Want more money or a bigger business? Work harder at it and you’ll have the best chances of success.
Want deeper, more fulfilling relationships with friends or family? Spend more time building those relationships and watch them blossom.
Want to be the best player on your team? Practice longer and harder than your confreres and you’ll slowly pull ahead of the pack.
You get the point.
Working out isn’t that simple, though.
The “more is better” approach works…until it doesn’t. And then it becomes counterproductive.
That is, in terms of building muscle, strength, and endurance, more training is generally better than less…but once you exceed your body’s ability to recover, the wheels start to fall off.
Here’s a short list of what can happen next:
- You struggle to finish your workouts.
- You lose strength and endurance.
- You sleep poorly.
- You struggle with fatigue and lethargy.
- You have odd aches and pains.
- You get sick more frequently.
These are all signs that there is a systemic imbalance between work and recovery.
Scientifically speaking, this symptomatology is known as “overtraining syndrome,” and chances are you’re going to wrestle with it to one degree or another at some point in your fitness journey.
Well, this podcast is going to help.
In it, you’re going to learn how to spot overtraining before it becomes a serious problem, what to do if/when you find yourself overtrained, how to prevent it in the first place.
So, let’s start with one of the more common (and misguided) cliches about overtraining…
Would you rather read about overtraining? Then check out this article!
Mentioned on the Show
Thinner Leaner Stronger by Mike Matthews
10 Proven Ways to Relax Your Muscles and Mind
References
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3435910/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11508520
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22158142
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2016/01/26/ajcn.115.119339.abstract
http://www.myosynthesis.com/cns-handle-stress
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3435910/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8350709/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11839081/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8350709/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12831711/
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9190120
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