Over the past few years I have heard a lot of different opinions on "overtraining", when it comes to being a competitive athlete or not. Here is what I have learned and my opinion based on some facts, things that I have experienced, and thorough research.
The fact is, your bodies will burn out, There is only so much it can handle and especially if there is an imbalance with training, rest, and proper nutrition. Our bodies do adapt to most anything and while many say, if you train longer and harder then eat more rest more ect.. While that is true, we must also realize that our bodies need optimal time to adapt to any change. In this article I will explain the symptoms of CNS fatigue or "over training". I will talk about what happens with-in our bodies and how over training can actually be counter productive.
Personally I do not believe that the longer and harder you train the better results you will see, Even if you are eating and resting more. I do however believe that if you listen to your body while training hard that your results will be even greater! I say that because I have practiced it myself and have personally gotten better results in my physique with more rest. Resting more or when my body needed it I should say, rather than pushing past the point of extreme fatigue. By doing so it has allowed me to become the leanest, strongest, and most conditioned I have ever been and by continuing to listen to my body I have been able to maintain it.
Listening to my bodies needs has also allowed me to make faster progress and continue to progress with no set backs. Even now I continue to progress MORE, the more I listen and become in-tuned with my what my body needs. Whether you have a coach or not, it is so important that you learn your own body. A coach can learn your body but, don't leave everything up to them. It will help you grow as an athlete in the long run.
CNS Fatigue is not a known medical condition, it just means central nervous system FATIGUE, which simply means that your brain PULLS THE PLUG on your body, usually making you feel completely exhausted. The reason for this is, your brain signals your body when you have pushed far enough and could result in injury basically just protecting your body from harms way. It's Just the brains way of saying "ok, you're done" when your body wants to keep pushing. This is why it is so IMPORTANT TO LISTEN!! Yes, you want to push yourself greatly but, know when to let up and avoid injuries and illness that could potentially set you back.
Through years of research and study we have all learned that our bodies are always striving for homeostasis (adaptation) and we know that to become bigger, greater, and stronger we have to keep increasing exercise volume and intensity. Not the sense of "more is better" but, give your body time to adapt to the changes before increasing volume, intensity, food, or even decreasing food. Gradually change things as your body adapts. Be smart about how and when you increase volume and/or intensity/duration ect.
Overtraining is real and does happen.
Ask yourself this, do you ever have days where you go 100% in the gym then the next you feel drained and a little more weak? Or you feel good for a few days of going hard then start to feel more drained and weak? This is called highs and lows and I personally feel that we should train according to those highs and lows. Take for instance a power lifter, they train heavy then do a de-load phase to give their body a break and increase strength again.
Now, am I saying to do this as any competitive athlete or for anyone who trains hard in the gym? No. I am just saying to listen to you body and train accordingly to how you feel. This doesn't mean giving yourself slack, this means get to know your body and learn how to listen to it, that way you can train more efficiently and get better results.
This is always a good and efficient way to train, for instance, if you train a bigger body part or maybe max out one day then take the next day to work on a smaller body part giving your body optimal time to recover before training another big body part which requires more out put (effort energy). TAKE DAYS OFF it won't kill you and actually that's when progress, not necessarily while you are working out. Try it, I bet you will feel stronger, have better workouts, and see better progress. Remember that it's not only the muscles that need to recover but, our central nervous systems as well.
Since CNS Fatigue starts in the brain then signals the body, our mental stress or mental pressure that we put on ourselves while working out or even outside of the gym can exhaust us just as much. Have you ever felt completely drained after using a pre-workout supplement that really jacked you up for training? If you answered yes, the reason behind that is, supplements like that not only drain you physically but mentally even more so causing you to feel symptoms of CNS fatigue.
You see, the brain does not distinguish between physical and mental stress; cortisol (our stress hormone) secretion occurs from both. My advice is to probably stay away from most pre-workouts and stick to something of a more pure form for energy. I know this sounds weird but, this is something I have actually found to work, relax before you train.
Ease your mind before a training session so you go in with a clear calm focus. Now, just because you experience symptoms of CNS fatigue does not actually mean that you are experiencing it but, rather just symptoms and possibly over training. There are two points which our muscles can become fatigued 1. In the muscle itself 2. In the point of origin of the muscular contraction- THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM.
Of course we have to continue to put greater physical demand on our bodies for growth and to be greater and stronger. The problem lies when the physical demands outweighs the bodies ability to adapt and recover sufficiently. This coupled with mental stress, the signs and symptoms are physical, behavioral, and emotional, including: Tired and drained feeling (washed out), lack of energy, a compulsive need to exercise, decreased appetite, increased risk for injuries, loss of enthusiasm, depression, moodiness and irritability, mild aches and pains, hurting joints, sudden drop in performance, staying sore not recovering, insomnia, headaches, decrease in immune system (catching more colds).
Bottom line, ITS OK TO REST! Listen to your body. I personally noticed symptoms when my training was way over done about 3 years ago and I don't feel that any nutrition or enough rest could have fixed it. I was doing over 2 hours of cardio a day, high intensity weight training/cross fit type workouts and no days off. Obviously I was being misguided and now know better that's why I write these articles, to help others. Most of time I didn't really have any appetite, my joints hurt, it was hard to sleep restfully, I became extremely irritable, and I stayed sore. This can all lead to adrenal fatigue as well (see my article on Adrenal fatigue and when your body has had enough). REST IS SO IMPORTANT I don't care what anyone says.
This not an article to excuse HARD work or to make anyone believe that hard work doesn't have to be done. If you want be a competitive athlete or someone who just wants to be in better shape, or in need of a lifestyle change there will be a lot of hard work that has to happen! There is noway around that. It's truly how you go about it thought, the more you listen to your body and become in-tune with what it is trying to tell you the smarter you will be working, there for the HARDER you can work! It just makes sense to me to push yourself hard but, also know when to REST.
Also I am not saying that one way of training is better than the other... I just know what I have personally experienced and researched. I can only give my opinion through my experiences to try and help others. I have also started a website where I will be posting a lot of helpful stuff like this and things I have experienced. You can find me on Rxmuscle.com, facebook and Instagram Loni Pfeil (Loni Michelle) and my website- ️lonipfeil.wix.com/LoniMichelleFitness. I look forward to connecting with many more of you!! Thanks for reading.
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