What Are the Side Effects of Over-Exercising?

We all love to exercise because it is widely believed within the scientific and normal communities that it contributes to our physical vitality. But everything gives results when done in moderation.

Overdoing your training sessions can turn out to be a horrible experience. To learn more about the downsides of over-exercise, consider this post.   

Why do we exercise?

There are basically four types of physical workouts, namely, strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance. All four of these are just to target a fit, slim, and healthy physicality. Thus, the main purpose of exercise is to stay physically fit. 

Other benefits of physical training:

• Improvement in brain health
• Management of weight
• Reduction in the risk of disease
• Bone and Muscles Strengthening
• Better quality of life

Signs of overexercising

All the following will tell you if it is time to stop exercising and allow yourself some time to recover from exercise burnout.    

• Prolonged Muscle Soreness
• Decreased Performance
• Insomnia
• Fatigue
• Altered Appetite
• Inflammation
• Sadness
• Fat Gain
• Immune Weakness
• Mood Swings
• Injury like muscle strain and bone fractures

In case you are already facing any of these symptoms, ensure you put an end to the physical training right away.  

If you have knee issues and after exercise, it has got worse, make sure you consult the top knee pain doctor in Delhi or nearby right away.

Side effects of over-exercising

Workouts beyond limits can cause a whole range of trouble. 

Overtraining: Our body needs rest to recover and get ready for another workout session once again after the first one. But, when we don’t pay attention to the rest factor and keep on giving training to the body even though we are physically drained, it leads to a condition called overtraining syndrome.

If you don’t stop over-exercising allowing yourself time to recover and get better, this condition will progress and become even worse.

Strains, Sprains, and Stress Fractures: All these injuries are also caused by training your body too much. You will normally feel inflamed over the area you have strained. In case you have hip pain issues, consult the best hip pain doctor in Delhi.

Hormonal Imbalance: Intense workouts followed by no recovery periods also impact bodily functions negatively by affecting hormonal levels. In women, it leads to amenorrhea. Men will experience a decrease in testosterone with the concomitant physical weakness.

Weakened Immune System: Overstraining yourself tires you out and when you don’t follow a healthy post-exercise diet and relaxation routine, it will lower your immunity power. Often, it is true partially as well because being too tired contributes to poor sleeping and disruptions in physiological processes. 

Bad Mood: Experiencing bouts of anxiety, sadness because of physical discomfort, and unhealthy thoughts about food and more exercise might also occur.

Lack of nutrition: If your exercise isn’t followed by a proper diet and relaxation, it will definitely cause a deficiency of essential nutrients in your body.

Other Problems

Decreased Productivity: A tired body cannot work as effectively as a fully rejuvenated and relaxed body.

Low Energy: Your body goes through a lot of wear and tear throughout the day like stress fractures, muscle strain etc. After a good night’s sleep, the body gets prepared for the next day ahead once again. However, overdoing training sessions will reverse this situation and you won’t be able to feel physically energised. 

Emotional Distress: When your entire body aches, mental vitality is bound to go down.

Reduced Sleep: Although adequate exercise helps slip into deep sleep faster, too much of the same can cause insomnia because of physical discomfort.  

Physical Distress: The body’s each cell undergoes a lot of work when you work out. Thus, doing beyond recommended exercise will cause burnout leading you to physical distress. This might range from mild pain and aches to severe.

Ways to recover from an exercise burnout

Don’t worry. Often, overtraining isn’t a big issue. It will go away with the following measures. 

Sleep: Ensuring a proper night’s sleep after overdoing exercise is the best way to get out of it naturally without any sort of medical help. Sleep is our body’s natural way to enter into a rejuvenation mode for the repair and revitalisation of all its physiological systems. 

Rest: Besides sleep, getting enough rest throughout the waking hours is also important. 

Mental relaxation: A lot of research has shown that mental health also matters in keeping you physically fit. It is because the mind considerably impacts your body. For mental relaxation, listen to soft, instrumental and sleep-inducing music. 

Protein: Lifting weights or strenuous activities often target your muscle mass making them inflamed afterwards. So, ensuring enough protein intake will speed up the recovery process.

Liquid: Water is the most important contributory factor to making your physiological processes happen. Science says that you are on average 75% H2O. So, take at least 4 litres of fluids a day if men and 3 if women. It will ensure a healthy recovery. 

Medical Assistance: If even after following a proper diet and taking enough liquid with rest, your symptoms of exercise burnout don’t go away. Talk to a doctor. 

Conclusion

Exercise is good for health, but doing it out of limit is bound to make you sick rather than healthy. So, always conduct your workouts initially along with a certified GYM instructor or exercise professional. It will make sure that the problem of overtraining doesn’t happen.

In case you still feel physically drained and sick, meet the right specialist.