Many athletes have come across such a concept as overtraining. This condition is characterized by a decrease in working capacity, strength indicators, general well-being, and various failures in the central nervous system. There are certain ways to treat and prevent this disorder.
How to identify
The state of overtraining is determined by strength indicators. That is, if the number of repetitions or working weights have sagged by 15-20%, the overload is approaching. A drawdown of over 20% indicates that the body is already in this state.
If after training, the load on the muscles was not optimal, but exceeded, then within a day or more after exercise, the pulse will be increased. This happens because the body releases a huge amount of stress hormones that provoke an increased heart rate.
Overtraining can come from microtrauma, muscle damage. Muscle tissue does not have time to recover, the number of damaged tissues exceeds the number of healed ones. This is manifested by soreness of the muscles that you have been training for a long time, but they still have not recovered. This is a sure sign to take a break.
In relation to the nervous system, additional neuroses may appear that are unusual for you. Emotional disruptions, irritability, decreased libido, which you do not experience in everyday life. All of this is one of the signals of overloading your central nervous system due to the abundance of training volume.
Treatment and recovery
First of all, you need to postpone everything and increase the number of hours of sleep to 9-10 for several days. Sleep is the primary factor in recovery in the human body. It is advisable to give up any physical activity during the recovery period.
You can also deliberately lower your barbell weight to give your body some rest. In terms of training, take two steps back for a couple of weeks, then, after recovery, just gradually move upward. This will allow you to get out of the state of overtraining without losing strength results. Thus, you will unload the central nervous system, it does not need to activate as many resources as on the extreme scales.
When it comes to nutrition, you should have enough amino acids in your diet. Protein from foods can be beneficial during this period. Vitamin C has a positive effect on reducing stress hormones, including cortisol.
Only your own observations of the body can determine the recovery time. For some, 2 weeks will not be enough, for someone a couple of days will be enough. In fact, many of the old school weightlifters trained at high intensity, with a lot of workouts almost every day. They usually did not have the so-called state of overtraining. Observe your sleep, diet, listen to your own state of the body and, with a high probability, you will not be overwhelmed by the body!
