Simple way to know if you are overtraining

[BackInTheGame78]

This is a simple way to know if you are overtraining and your body is asking for rest.

Requires a fitness watch of some sort, which to be honest, I have no idea why you wouldn't have one these days with their pricing under $100 for many of them...helps in so many ways outside of this too.

Basically you are going to get a good baseline for your resting overnight heart rate for a 1-2 week period.

If you find your heartrate is consistently 5-7+ BPM over this for a few days, it is a sign your body needs more rest.

No real guesswork involved and makes it a lot easier to decide when to give yourself a break or tone things down a bit to let your body recover.

This has also been found to be a leading indicator, meaning this will happen before you notice physiological changes to your body or the way you feel(ie, it might take another week of training like this to start feeling wore down).
This allows you to adjust earlier than you othewise would if you are waiting for your body to signal it to you and can be used to train optimally.

 

[redskinsfan92]

Fittbit sense has a feature that tells you your workout readiness

 

[Stoic]

Good points OP. I will say most people under train and not over train. I am definitely prone to over training, playing tennis and working out 5-6 days per week.

Lately, I have been trying to come up with a protocol that helps improve my recovery time. I've experimented with more stretching, cold showers, hot baths, more protein. But, of course, the cornerstone for recovery is still going to be rest. I also try to alternate between intense active days and less active days, but rarely cut out physical activity completely.

 

[Ricky]

Good points OP. I will say most people under train and not over train. I am definitely prone to over training, playing tennis and working out 5-6 days per week.

Lately, I have been trying to come up with a protocol that helps improve my recovery time. I've experimented with more stretching, cold showers, hot baths, more protein. But, of course, the cornerstone for recovery is still going to be rest. I also try to alternate between intense active days and less active days, but rarely cut out physical activity completely.

walking is great on days you feel beat down. better to take a rest day and an easy stroll sometimes

 

[Stoic]

Walking is a great form of active recovery and helps burn some calories while doing so.

Only issue I take with this post is that more emphasis should be placed on food intake - particularly carbohydrates (assuming protein is at 1g/lb BW and fats are sufficient for hormone production).

Keep in mind that recovery and soreness aren't quite the same thing. If you're sore and having trouble coping, those theraguns are a god-send.

What foods for example you like to get your carbs from? My apologies if it was discussed up thread!

 

[jafman]

How does one ensure there are no other factors causing the increase in resting heart rate? To be clear how would I know that my elevated heart rate is only caused by overtraining.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

What foods for example you like to get your carbs from? My apologies if it was discussed up thread!

Steel cut oats
Sweet potatoes(allow it to cool to room temperature or colder before eating to lower glycemic index and get more resistant starches)
Berries(Blue/Rasp/Black/Straw)
Apples
Bananas
Grapes
Watermelon
Cantaloupe
Cherries
Mangos
Basmati Rice
Pears
Beans
Lentils
Chickpeas
Carrots
Peas
Dark Chocolate
Butternut squash

-All of these work fine for me as well as lower carb things like lettuce, kale, zucchini, cucumbers, yellow squash, mushrooms, broccoli, etc.

-I avoid nightshades as those don't work for my body(tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc) and anyone with auto-immune disorders should likewise avoid them.

-I eat tons of veggies throughout the day. Probably 5-6 servings. Oftentimes lunch is a giant salad with lots of different colors and grilled chicken with goat cheese. Higher carb ones on the longer list above like carrots and peas only on high carb days.

-I limit fruit to 3 servings on high carb days, 2 on medium carb days and 1 on low carb days with the low carb one almost always being strawberries in the protein smoothie I make as that is the lowest carb berry.

-I will have 2-3 dark chocolate squares throughout the day as my treats to myself...they are packed with theobromine and anti-oxidants and actually can help with weight loss. Only like 6g of carbs per square and 58 calories, so pretty easy to sneak in.

-One serving is always some form of berry as they are basically a super food packed with goodness...vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants, especially the darker ones high in anthocyanins like blueberries and blackberries.

 

[Stoic]

Steel cut oats
Sweet potatoes(allow it to cool to room temperature or colder before eating to lower glycemic index and get more resistant starches)
Berries(Blue/Rasp/Black/Straw)
Apples
Bananas
Grapes
Watermelon
Cantaloupe
Cherries
Mangos
Basmati Rice
Pears
Beans
Lentils
Chickpeas
Carrots
Peas
Dark Chocolate
Butternut squash

-All of these work fine for me as well as lower carb things like lettuce, kale, zucchini, cucumbers, yellow squash, mushrooms, broccoli, etc.

-I avoid nightshades as those don't work for my body(tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc) and anyone with auto-immune disorders should likewise avoid them.

-I eat tons of veggies throughout the day. Probably 5-6 servings. Oftentimes lunch is a giant salad with lots of different colors and grilled chicken with goat cheese. Higher carb ones on the longer list above like carrots and peas only on high carb days.

-I limit fruit to 3 servings on high carb days, 2 on medium carb days and 1 on low carb days with the low carb one almost always being strawberries in the protein smoothie I make as that is the lowest carb berry.

-I will have 2-3 dark chocolate squares throughout the day as my treats to myself...they are packed with theobromine and anti-oxidants and actually can help with weight loss. Only like 6g of carbs per square and 58 calories, so pretty easy to sneak in.

-One serving is always some form of berry as they are basically a super food packed with goodness...vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants, especially the darker ones high in anthocyanins like blueberries and blackberries.

good stuff man. All of that stuff actually tastes good too

 

[BackInTheGame78]

How does one ensure there are no other factors causing the increase in resting heart rate? To be clear how would I know that my elevated heart rate is only caused by overtraining.

What other factors would you have for multiple days that would cause an elevated heart rate?

Caffeine late at night?
Blood clots?
Heart attack?

If it's not something with caffeine or some other stimulant causing it and it's not overtraining you probably should go to the ER ASAP.

 

[EyeBRollin]

What foods for example you like to get your carbs from? My apologies if it was discussed up thread!

My favorite carb sources are any kind of raw fruit, any kind of beans, brown rice, oats, whole grain pasta, whole wheat bread, and sweet potatoes

 

[BackInTheGame78]

I like that Barilla protein pasta tbh, but any non-simple carbs (see sugars) are fine. Rice is a usual go-to for most.

Pasta is a no go for me...the wheat causes issues. I'm jealous that you can eat it and be fine with it cause I love it haha

 

[FlexpertHamilton]

Another simple test is your grip strength. You don't even need to measure it, you can just clench a balled fist and be able tell if your grip is relatively weak or strong. I actually knew this intuitively as a child. I think it's more of a measure of overall health though.

 

[FlexpertHamilton]

Grip strength isn't bad, but it can be heavily influenced by grip required by training. Surely your grip strength will go down if you have a heavy pull day.

Overtraining manifests moreso the next day or two so you want to test it the next day.