Overtraining Effects - How Overtraining Signs Wage War on Your Immune System

However, your immune system can be easily upset. When you are repeatedly pushing your muscles to their limits in the gym, your body begins to exhibit overtraining signs. These overtraining effects mean a lowering of your natural defenses leading to the attack by almost any bacterium or virus.

No longer able to resist infection, your depressed immune system will be at the mercy of long term illness and injury.


Photo courtesy of Vectorportal.com

Symptoms of Overtraining

So how do these problems start? We don't have to look too far to find the enemies in this war on our immune systems.

Our battle-hardened foes are:

1. Training too much, and
2. Training too hard.

But isn't hard training required by the body to grow? Yes, it is. And the harder you train, the more careful you must be, because now is the time your immune system is lowered.

The real problems occur when this hard training goes on for too long and too frequently, as is commonly the case with your typical 3 times-per-week training protocols.

Persisting in such exercise regimens when already severely overtrained will not only wreck your gains in and out of the gym, but will harm your health.

Am I Overtraining?

So what is the solution? First ask yourself, Am I Overtraining? If your answer is 'yes', you must then take a break from training entirely.

This means you must stay away from the gym and rest up until your body is completely recovered. To continue training now - even with a super-abbreviated routine like those promoted on this site - would exacerbate the problem and further suppress your immune system.

How long do you need to rest? If you have been displaying symptoms of overtraining for some time, consider a three-week layoff to be the absolute minimum and a four-week layoff the optimum.

For many trainees such a period away from the weights will seem like agony, but more than your muscle building is at risk here: your health and well-being are compromised, and the only way to recuperate from these effects of overtraining is to rest.

In Summary

Losing the overtraining effects battle? See how you can win the overtraining signs war and boost your immune system.

Overtraining Effects to Symptoms of Overtraining

Overtraining Effects to Muscle Building