In the last few weeks I’ve definitely been hurting from a large amount of volume in my training. There are a few of us on one program and with sectionals now just around the corner, everyone is weighing in with their view about whether people are overtraining, undertraining or just training hard. I think as a result of this, there is a fair bit of confusion out there around what exactly overtraining is and what is just hard work.

A few tips below to consider which might suggest you are actually overtraining rather than pushing yourself hard.

• extreme lethargy and tiredness
• excessive sleep
• excessive sleeplessness and restlessness
• excessive hunger (obviously when your training hard you need to eat more but this goes beyond a normal increase in consumption)
• extreme lack of appetite
• feeling washed-out and drained
• general aches and pains
• joint pain
• sudden drop in performance (people training hard may see a plateau but generally not a drop)
• headaches
• decreased immunity
• moodiness
• irritability
• increased number of injuries
• decreased immunity

I encourage everyone to look out for these symptoms and listen to their bodies, don’t just take somebody else’s word for it. Or wait for the symptoms to appear.

As a qualified Personal Trainer and Exercise Physiologist and an athlete with extensive experience adapting to large volumes, I am more than happy to answer any questions anyone has around this point. And yes, I have been known to overtrain in the past.