Are You Training Too Much? Too Hard?
You need to train to improve your fitness level. Daah! "That's something we already know," you may argue. But how much training is enough and when does it become too much? How do you know that your current workload is adequate for what your body can actually take it? I'm asking these questions because I'm sure that the majority of triathletes I know don't face the opposite issue, which is training too little.
When you're training, you're not only releasing stress and hormones that make you feel better. When you’re exercising, you’re also putting your body into a stress spiral that has the goal of improving your performances. And that’s OK, but do more stress, more volumes correlate to more fitness? Not exactly, and not always. How do you understand and know that the fatigue you feel when you're tired is just fatigue (and good fatigue provoked by the right amount of training load), and it's not overtraining?
Unfortunately, there's not yet a scientific training tool that can tell us the adequate amount of training that a single person can tolerate (in comparison to another person or to him-herself). And this is where the dialogue athlete-coach becomes fundamental. This is where the feedback I ask after the single training sessions, the emails of recap, and the periodic phone calls play their crucial role and close the circle.
Following athletes consistently, observing them when it’s possible and check-in in with them regularly are the pieces of the puzzle that inform the decision on what to do with the workload. More training? Some rest?
The signs of overtraining can be many and have several causes. But to check whether your fatigue is simple fatigue, or there is something more that you're trying to hyde to yourself and others, ask yourself if:
you think and feel your performances decreased
you feel like the same efforts feel harder
your heart rate at rest is higher than normal (and more several days in a low) your energy levels are low, and you have a low tolerance for working or for paying attention
you think (or you've been told) that your mood changes often, and you often feel down, anxious or sad
your motivation is low you're irritable your sleep is disturbed
your appetite decreased
you deal with chronic injuries and niggles
you're getting sick a bit too often
you noticed a recent loss of weight
you have excessive thirst
you feel an increase in muscle tension
Yes, all of the above can have causes that are not necessary due to the amount of sport you do. But, if your training partners, other halves, colleagues, friends, and relatives report a change in several of the above, then we need to talk! Don't wait too soon, and follow your instinct. Most of the time, you already know the answers.
