Take the demanding nature of triathlon and add to it the highly motivated, type A athletes who participate in this multi-disciplinary sport and you have a recipe for… overtraining. It doesn’t have to be that way.
In the last blog, we saw that constant aches and pains, decreased performance, and an increased heart rate are indicators that you could be overtraining. Here are a few more factors to be aware of:
4. Emotional mayhem
Closely related to an increased morning heart rate is a general irritability and moodiness that often accompanies overtraining.
As your body is overtaxed, so is your emotional well-being. Are you more irritable about insignificant things than normal? Are you a challenge to be around, snapping and finding fault at everything in your way? These may be warning signs your body is over-worked.
5. Restless nights
It stands to reason if your days are restless, your nights will be too. If you can’t seem to get enough sleep, that could be a sign your body is experiencing overload. Or if you are sleeping, it’s not the relaxed and fulfilling sleep that will enable your body to recover from intense workouts and strenuous days at work.
6. Lowered resistance and illness
When your body has had enough, it shuts down. A common byproduct of overtraining is constant or unexpected illness. A sudden cold. Getting injured in peculiar and uncommon ways. The inability to bounce back after normal practices.
These are all signs that your body is doing more breaking down than building up.
The warning signs of overtraining are just that: signposts of potential serious future issues. Watch for these signs (and listen to your body) and you’ll have the best chance to avoid overtraining.
Ignore the signs, and you’ll be more susceptible to chronic injury, decreased performance, and a compromised mental edge—the consequences of overtraining.
And that can’t be overstated.
TriDot Takeaway: Overtraining can be as detrimental to your triathlon success as undertraining. Be on the alert for emotional swings, restless sleep, and lowered resistance.
Talk to TriDot: What are ways that you monitor and compensate for overtraining?
