Five Ways To Beat Overtraining

If you're just getting started with your workout program, you're likely anxious to dive in and begin. Your motivation is on high and you're fully prepared to give it everything you've got. After all, you have a goal to reach and you are going to do absolutely everything you can to ensure you see success this time around. But, before you go full speed ahead, one thing that you absolutely must watch out for is overtraining. Overtraining really can take someone with the best of intensions and entirely throw them off course as they quickly wind up fatigued, losing progress, and more frustrated than ever. There's nothing worse than having such a high level of motivation and then being forced to take time away from your workouts due to the fact that you've overtrained yourself into the ground. Fortunately, if you're smart and think about this before it occurs, you can use the following five strategies to avoid overtraining in the first place. rnLet's take a look at what you should know. Periodize Your Program Perhaps the single best way to beat overtraining before it starts is to make sure that your program is periodized from the start. While you may want to work on getting as strong as humanly possible 12 months out of the year, from your body's perspective, this is just an all around bad idea. Instead, you should divide your year up into different phases. Have one phase that is devoted to maximum strength work, one phase that's devoted to size gains, and then one phase that's going to help you melt any body fat that's accumulated off your body. Since each phase will have its own training requirements, this will take some pressure off your body and reduce the chance of overtraining. rnWhen the same stimulus is loaded onto the body over and over and over again, that's when major problems start to occur. Schedule De-Loading Weeks Second, the next thing that you must be sure to do is take some time for de-loading weeks. What's a de-loading week? This is essentially a period of time where you're going to back off the weight and volume of your workout for five to seven days. While it may be difficult to do mentally, it's really going to save your body in the end. You won't have to worry about losing your strength as one week is hardly any length of time plus you'll give your body that extended recovery that it needs. If you can't take a full week off from the gym altogether, de-loading weeks are your next best bet. Look After Your Nutrition Another key element in preventing overtraining is making sure that your nutrition is where it needs to be. If you aren't fueling your body with the right amount and types of nutrients, it's not going to have the raw materials it needs to continually repair yourself from all the damage done during the workout. Have a good look at both your pre and post workout nutrition, as well as the nutrition you're using throughout the rest of the day. If there are any issues at play during any point of the day, take necessary steps to correct them. Keep Mental Stress Low Another key element in preventing overtraining is keeping your mental stress low as well. If you're highly stressed out mentally, either from school, work, or other elements of your life, this can also encourage the body to move into an overtraining state. Many people think it's just the physical aspects that can cause overtraining, but this isn't the case at all. You have to look at it from a very well-rounded perspective. Watch For The Symptoms Finally, the last thing that you should be doing in order to prevent overtraining is to make sure that you're also watching for all the symptoms. If you begin to notice any signs that you are becoming overtrained, be sure to take action immediately. Give yourself a few days off from the gym in order to prevent it from really setting in and then get back at it, being more careful this time around. rnSo there you have all the main things to remember about preventing overtraining before it starts. If you're sure to apply each of these to your own situation, you should have no issues carrying on with your workouts like you want to.