Is your gym time increasing, while at the same time you’re having difficulty sleeping? As personal trainer and holistic nutrition consultant, Mike Duffy, says it’s “most likely a result of a combination of nervous system and or hormonal system overload.” He suggests “to focus more on getting your 10 pm to 2 am sleep” because “this is the part of your sleeping pattern where physical restoration occurs.” He stresses, “your body grows while resting, not training,” and advises people who might be overtraining to “eat a lot of clean food and take a week off of training all together.”
When you think of working out, you don’t typically associate it with depression. But, if you’re overtraining, it’s a possible outcome. Personal trainer and strength coach, Lee Boyce, says that people who overtrain tend “to view exercise as something that it’s not – namely, a challenge, a conquest, or a space-filler.” He adds they may also suffer from “body image issues” and the belief that “the more they train, the better they'll look.” To avoid overtraining, he says, “it’s important to know the real motives behind training.” Set realistic short and long-term goals, create a plan, and stick to it.
7/ Personality Changes
Has your gym partner been noticeably absent lately? It may be he’s legitimately busy, or he could be keeping his distance from you. While Trink says overtraining is actually a “pretty rare” occurrence for most guys who train three to five hours per week, he says it’s possible for there to be an “intensification of personality traits” for guys prone to being “aggressive, irritable, or depressed.” However, he cautions that these changes aren’t always the result of overtraining, as there are “other factors that can overly stress the nervous system.” Listen to your body and react accordingly.