Are You Overtraining?

Kevin shares the secret to any successful workout plan: rest.

By Kevin Valluzzi

Here is a topic that does not come up very often: overtraining. Most people today have a hard enough time fitting in workouts or feeling motivated enough to exercise. But what if you are just the opposite and you do have the time to workout? Or you are highly motivated? Can this be a bad thing?

The answer to that is definitely yes. Now don't get me wrong: I consider myself highly motivated and look forward to working out. But I also know there's key ingredient to your workout plan that you should include if you want to see really great results. That word is rest.

I know, I know -- that's the last thing you thought I was going to say, right? I once heard of a story about a bodybuilding coach who told 3 top bodybuilders to come fly out to his training center and he would "train" them for 5 days and guaranteed they would leave his facility in better shape, with better bodies and they would feel totally rejuvenated. Do you know what they did the first 3 days? Absolutely nothing! Hung out at the beach, went to the movies, etc.  He knew that these bodybuilders were overtrained. Their bodies were desperately in need of some R and R.

When you workout you are literally tearing away at your muscle fibers. I know that sounds bad, but that is a good thing. But it is only good if you give your body a chance to repair these minute muscle tears. How do you do that? By resting. That's why I am a strong advocate of interval and circuit training followed by rest, where you can fully enjoy the benefits of all of your hard work.

Some warning signs of overtraining are getting sick frequently, not looking forward to your workouts, feeling burned out, etc.

With all of that said, I strongly recommend that you give yourself one entire week off from training for every 12 weeks that you workout. Not only will your body thank you, but you will mentally feel ten times stronger and be very excited to jump right back into your workouts once your week of rest is complete.                          

Kevin Valluzzi is a fitness professional and is the author of the highly successful e-book, Busy Woman Fitness