Rest days are one of the most vital components of a fitness program as they allow the body to recover faster, hence making it easier to train every other day of the week. Sometimes on the quest for fitness we forget the importance of rest days and having time for the mind and body to recover.

So, as a general rule of thumb, every athlete (including Olympians) need at least one rest day per week. Without this rest day, the body won’t be able to keep up with the work load and eventually will lead to overtraining.

My Experience with Overtraining

I have experienced the effects of overtraining myself. I used to be a competitive swimmer, however I always had trouble with my shoulders. The club I was swimming at hired a new coach after several years with a coach who had taught me lots about health and how to look after the body and this was a big change. The new coach had more of an old school approach and had the belief that the more hours we trained and km covered in a week increased our chances of being successful and to give him credit, before he trained us he had a swimmer go to the Commonwealth Games. However, for a small Tasmanian swim squad, the amount of training we began to do was a huge jump from previous years. We went from focusing on technique and building strength and endurance in and out of the pool, to swimming 5km on average each 2 hour session. We also jumped from 8 sessions a week to 10 sessions per week and we trained every single day. We were told we needed to lose weight and build our endurance. Fair to say very quickly I became very fit, but I wasn’t eating enough and I was on the fast track to overtraining. I started to become really successful at local competitions in comparison to previous times and I was really happy with where I was. However, my shoulders soon gave out and so did my body. I was no longer able to lift my arms after swimming sessions due to the agonising pain and I struggled to make it through the session due to the pain an a lack of energy. I was gutted and I was ordered to have 2 months off swimming to help my shoulders recover. I did this, however, my biggest mistake was I started swimming 30-40km a week for 2-3 weeks and then jumped straight back into 70km a week. I soon spiralled again as I ate less to lose weight and my shoulders blew up again. I lost all my motivation and fair to say I hated swimming for the following year and a half that I tried to stay with it.

I wish that I had of known more about rest days and the importance of stretching, foam rolling and recovery earlier so that I could have prevented my body from breaking down due to over training.

Why is it so important?

If the body is not give sufficient recovery time then the body can not regenerate. Especially after vigorous exercise like weight lifting or training for a sport.

Rest makes you stronger because the muscles that have been broken down can heal and regenerate after they have been stressed. When the muscles regenerate they become stronger as they adapt to the stress they are being placed under. Hence, they can now handle more stress. Rest is so important because during sleep growth hormone levels are the highest and this is when the repairing of stressed muscles occurs.

The process of the body being stressed and then rebuilding to become stronger is called super compensation.

Weights Training and Rest

Weights training can be performed every day (obviously still have one day off a week) by utilising a split program. A split program involves training different muscle groups on alternate days, with at least 48 hours in between training the same body part.

Training for a Sport

It is possible to train 6 days a week for a particular sport without pushing the body beyond the limits. There are particular sports like swimming, running and cycling where it is possible to just perform specific sports training several times a day for 6 days a week without overtraining. This is achieved by changing the intensity of each session, so that all sessions are not high intensity and fatiguing, hence allowing the body to recover. Other sports that require more intense sport specific training make it difficult to train for the sport several times a day, 6 times a week. However, cross training can help to continue to improve performance, whilst not always using the same muscle groups and working at the same intensity.

Overtraining

Overtraining occurs as a result of too much exercise/stress without sufficient time to recover and rest and without the appropriate nutrition to aid this process. Overtraining can be systemic (affects the whole body) and localised (affected specific muscle groups).

Signs of Overtraining

• irritability
• constant muscle soreness
• increased number of colds and flus
• depression
• loss of motivation
• insomnia
• increased chance of injury
• deceased appetite
• weight loss

Factors influencing Overtraining

Overtraining can be brought on due to a number of factors, such as:

• poor nutrition
• overwork
• prolonged illness
• menstruation

Ways to Overcome Overtraining

• Assess nutrient and calorie intake – including macros, vitamins and minerals
• Split training
• Massage
• Stretching
• Foam Rolling
• Take a break
• Reduce the amount of training
• Increase water intake

 

Essentially, your body is the most important thing, so look after it by providing it with the rest and nutrition it needs. If you feel like you might be overtraining, then it is best to go see a doctor and they can help you to create an action plan to tackle the issue and get you back to being fit and healthy

Thanks for reading 🙂

Love Caite xx

 

 

 

REFERENCES

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/behar2.htm