Ineffective recovery and outside stresses can leave you more susceptible to developing overtraining. Overtraining can have a significant impact on your performance + training plan.
How do I know if I am overtraining? What are the signs & symptoms?
- Resting HR 3-5 beats above normal
- Drop / plateau in performance
- Body taking longer to recover / aches / cramps
- Lack of interest in training
- Frequently run down
- Trouble sleeping
- Difficulty concentrating
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What can we do to avoid overtraining?
- Monitoring resting HR: Getting to know your average resting HR is important. It is normal to see an increase in your resting HR following a hard run, allowing it to return to normal will help avoid overtraining. An increase of 3-5 beats above normal can be a sign of overtraining.
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- Rest days: It is vital that you have an adequate amount of rest days and allow your body time to recover between runs. Allow at least 48 hours between hard sessions.
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- 80/20 rule: Plan out your training schedule, make sure that 80% of your training is easy-moderate, while only 20% is at a higher intensity.
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- Sleep: Sleep is incredibly important for your recovery. Athletes require more sleep than the average person. During marathon training, you may need 8-10 hours of sleep. During training, Paula Radcliffe slept 9-10 hours at night and usually had a nap in the afternoon too.
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- Nutrition: It is important you are eating enough calories to meet your energy needs. You should consider increasing your protein intake to assist with your recovery. Using apps can be helpful way to track your calorie and allows you to be sure you are meeting the appropriate portion of protein, carbs, and fats for you.
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- Hydration: Keeping well hydrated helps to maintain your blood volume, body temperature and muscle function. Dehydration leads to increasing heart rate, fatigue and impaired concentration which can have a drastic effect on an athletes performance. You can use this simple calculation to determine how much water you should drink each day:
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Water (in litres) = your weight (kg) multiplied by 0.033.
Aim to spread out your water intake during the day e.g. 200ml every hour. 2-3 hours prior to training or competition, you should aim to drink an extra 200ml in this time. Drink 500ml to 1l of water for every hour of exercise. After exercise, check your weight, if you have lost weight, moderately increase your intake to regain pre-exercise weight.
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- Massage: Massages can be extremely beneficial for recovery after exercise. Massage can be used to soothe sore muscles, increase circulation, stimulate muscle spindles and Golgi organ tendons, reduce local inflammatory responses, and facilitate muscle relaxation.
If you believe you may be suffering from a running or overtraining related injury, why not book a FREE 15-minute discovery visit with a physio?
In this complimentary visit you will have a chance to speak to a physio about your needs/and or condition/concerns and they will let you know if physio is right for you.
To book an appointment or a discovery visit, call us on: 0207 636 8845