Exercise Burnout

Exercise Burnout

For those of you who are avid exercisers, it’s no secret that you love to train hard and put in a lot of effort into your workout sessions. Having all the facilities available makes it easy for us to exercise whenever we want. But what happens if our bodies reach a point where it’s just too tired to continue. This is called burnout, but what does it mean?

Exercise burnout is a very real phenomenon. Pushing one’s body day in and day out can lead to some amazing physical changes, but if it’s not done properly, it can lead to physical and mental burnout. So what is the concept of Burnout? Burnout means that one’s body is not functioning at its optimal level, whether it’s mental (low emotions, irritability, inability to focus) or physically (sore muscles, achy joints, lack of energy, fatigue). With exercise burnout, one’s body is left feeling uncomfortable, weak and in some cases, in pain.

There are many signs that we can look out for to see if our training is too much for our body to handle.

· You start to resent training: If you feel that it’s becoming an obligation and you are lacking the motivation you once had to get to gym.

· Lack of energy: Burnout will leave the body feeling fatigued. You will want to rest and you will have no energy to get to gym.

· Irritability: If you are finding that your favourite spinning song is now ruining your workout, or you are infuriated by the fact that you brought the wrong gym socks in your gym bag, this can be a sign of burnout. Your mood becomes low and you are irritated far faster than normal.

· You aren’t seeing any improvement. When your body is strong and healthy, changes made to your training program will be seen fairly quickly. If your body is fatigued, you will get a plateau in fitness and strength gains. Pushing too hard or too often will not get you to the end faster.

· Lowered immune system: If you are feeling like you can’t shake that flu, or you are getting sick more often than normal, look at why your immune system isn’t functioning at 100%. Over-exercising can drop your immune system, which can also lead to you feeling lethargic.

How can we prevent this from happening? It appears easier than one would think. It’s all about listening to your body.

· Include days of rest: It’s important to let your body go through recovery. All training programs should include rest days. Your body is only able to build of strength and fitness if it has time to recover. It may feel counter intuitive, but you will be thankful that you took those mornings to lie in bed.

· Make a change: Doing the same exercise day in and day out is not conducive to improvements. Your body needs a change in program anywhere from 6-10 weeks of training. You can also include different types of exercise. If you love to run, try a spinning class, or a group work out session. If you are more into your weights sessions, try to include a functional training class to help include more functional movements to your routine.

· Be kind to your body: A little treat every now and then does your body wonders. You can schedule a massage, talk a walk along the ocean or botanical gardens. Remember that mental burnout can also affect how your body reacts to physical stress. If your mind is healthy, your body will be able to respond better.

· Choose an activity that is fun: Exercise doesn’t have to be hard all the time. You can do lots of additional activities that are enjoyable, and still great for your body. Including an outdoor Hike, a Yoga or Nia dance class can be great. Choose something that you wouldn’t normally take part in but is enjoyable. By trying something out of your comfort zone you may realise you have lots of other things that you enjoy doing.

Burnout can be a hard thing to understand as we all feel we should be able to keep going. But when your body wants to stop and shut down, it is very important that you listen to what it is saying to you. You need to find the right level of exercise that challenges you, but still leaves you with feeling strong, healthy, and does not compromise your immunity. Have fun, rest, and listen to your body.