More Overtraining

 For the past couple weeks Thursdays have been pretty busy days for me.  Starting off with a workout at the YMCA in the morning, then I grab some lunch and run to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class.  After that I take a nap to recover some of my energy and then head back to my gym for kickboxing class and wrestling class.  I'm pretty exhausted by the end of the day but I figure I have all weekend to recover.  Anyways, Thursday evening I head home ready to plop into my bed.  All is well until I wake up at 5AM with a really high fever and my entire body aching.  Now in hindsight, I should have seen this coming.  I was feeling kind of bleh all day, but something I found really interesting, is how my weight dropped dramatically the two days prior to getting sick.  If you look at the graph below you'll see that I dropped 4 lbs within two days.  The only other time that happened was after I went for "All you can Eat" Sushi (My weight dropped only because I superficially jacked up my weight by stuffing myself with pounds and pounds of sushi muahahah).  At first I thought it was really strange that I dropped so much weight, but I shrugged it off.  Is it possible that the weight drop was the first sign that I was overtraining?  Theoretically, if this is true, when I see my weight drop dramatically, I can take a rest day to recover and make sure I don't get sick.  Interesting....

After laying in my bed all day yesterday with a fever made me think I should make sure I don't overtrain again.  Here's a list of symptoms of overtraining and I'll highlight the ones I experienced:

• Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
• Mild leg soreness, general aches and pains
• Pain in muscles and joints
• Sudden drop in performance
• Insomnia
• Headaches
• Decreased immunity (increased number of colds, and sore throats)
• Decrease in training capacity / intensity
• Moodiness and irritability
• Depression
• Loss of enthusiasm for the sport
• Decreased appetite
• Increased incidence of injuries.
• A compulsive need to exercise

So how am I going to make sure I don't overtrain again?  Well first, listen to the signs of my body.  I should have noticed the big drop in weight and taken a day off.  Also, I used to take a resting heart rate every morning, but I stopped doing it after a while.  Experts say that when you're on the verge of overtraining, your resting heart rate will be abnormally high.  I'm really curious what my numbers would have been if I had been keeping track.  The other thing I need to do is recover better.  From an article I read:

10 Ways to Recover Quickly After a Workout

1.Cool Down

2.Replace Fluids

3.Eat Properly

4.Stretch

5.Rest

6.Perform Active Recovery

7.Have a Massage

8.Take an Icebath

9.Get lots of Sleep

10.Avoid Overtraining

While I do most of these things, they're a good reminder that recovery is just as important as the workout.  Most of the items there are self explanatory but some might not know what active recovery is.  It's basically low-intensity exercise after a workout which helps blood circulation and removal of lactic acid.  I'd imagine Yoga would be great for this.  Also, I've been meaning to get a massage.  I've never had one, but I think my body would really benefit from one.  Lastly, icebaths, or penguin dives as I call them are really great.  I should do them everyday, but usually I just want to take a nice hot shower :P.  Anyways, time for lunch.  If you see this, you must have read the entire thing so good for you.