Overtraining & Fat gain

As the old saying goes, too much of anything can be a bad thing, and that includes too much exercise. Exercise, particularly resistance or strength training, builds muscle. Unless bodybuilding competition is in your plans, exercising too much can develop more muscle than you need or, inversely, weaken the muscle you have. Excess exercise can cause health problems, as well, especially if the diet is lacking in proper nutrition. Overtraining can signal the body to start burning muscle for fuel and store more fat, resulting in some weight gain.

Effects

Over-exercising can cause changes in hormone levels, including testosterone and cortisol. Upsetting the body's hormone balance with overtraining can signal the body to burn muscle instead of fat. As a result, you may notice that lifting the usual amount of weight, running the usual distance and other stamina and strength exercises have become more difficult rather than easier. If it has become almost impossible to finish your usual workout routine, overtraining is the likely culprit. If cortisol levels rise too high and stay elevated for too long, the adrenal glands may stop working properly and as cortisol levels drop below normal, weight gain occurs.

Prevention/Solution

Any activity can be overdone, resulting in too much exercise for the body to handle. Workouts are designed to stress the muscles, causing small tears that the body repairs, which strengthens and builds muscle. The body needs time to adequately repair the damage wrought by exercising. This is called periodization and should be practiced as faithfully as your workouts.

Vary the workout routine and allow enough resting time for recovery to banish both the boomerang weight-gain of over training and to keep the workout from becoming boring for you and your muscles.

Carbohydrate replacement beverages cause a temporary weight gain, according to a study by the Gatorade Institute published in the "Journal of Applied Physiology" in 2010. If using an electrolyte beverage to rehydrate after a workout, wait about four hours before getting on the scales.

Warning

If weight-gain despite a more intense or longer workout occurs, something besides bulking muscles may be to blame. Consult a physician to be sure the problem is not OTS, or overtraining syndrome, which can lead to osteoporosis, chronic fatigue, sleep and appetite disturbances and severe electrolyte imbalance.

What are the symptoms of CNS Fatigue and Overtraining?

CNS Fatigue Symptoms

Head achesJoint aches (specifically joints, not muscles)

Poor skill execution – inconsistent execution of skills you can doLower energy

Poor sleep quality – disturbed sleepLower motivation

Flu-like feelings (without the blocked nose)

FeverForgetfulness

Low concentration

Overtraining Symptoms

Prolonged muscle fatigue

Reduced immunity

Decreased workout performance

Increased injury frequency

Tiredness

Waking up feeling sleepy

Craving high calorie foods

Needing to snack often

Slower illness/injury recovery

Solutions

1. Taking A Break

Taking a break from training to allow time for recovery. In knowing that you may be doing more harm than good at the gym, set aside today and tomorrow as a break. Some people allow one week away from fitness to revive their bodies and mind, and then when they return to training, they have more focus and are enjoying themselves again.

2. Reducing The Volume

Reducing the volume and/or the intensity of the training. If you always do five sets for each exercise, why not do just two or three, and lower the weight and focus solely on form? Strengthen your mind and muscle connection by tuning into the exercise at hand.

3. Deep-Tissue Massage

Deep-tissue or sports massage of the affected muscles. A skillfully applied massage is the most effective therapy for releasing muscle tension and restoring balance to the musculo-skeletal system. Receiving regular massages may help athletes prevent injuries, which might otherwise be caused by overuse. A constant build-up of tension in the muscles from regular activity may lead to stresses on joints, ligaments, tendons, as well as the muscles themselves.

4. Self-Massage

Self-massage of the affected muscles. Self-massage, with either with your hands or a system such as the Yamuna™ Body Rolling (BR) system featuring a specially designed 7" ball will help with pain relief, and can be targeted to hamstrings, calves, knees, quads, shoulder and back; any muscle or joint.

People who are stiff and inflexible and have, or are prone to, injury will benefit from BR as it elongates and massages muscles and opens and flexs the joints.

5. Temperature Contrast Therapy

Temperature contrast therapy. (Ice baths, hot & cold showers, etc). This uses the body's reaction to hot and cold stimuli. The nerves carry impulses felt at the skin deeper into the body, where they can stimulate the immune system, improve circulation and digestion, influence the production of stress hormones, encourage blood flow, and lessening pain sensitivity.

6. Proper Calorie Intake

Ensuring calorie intake matches (or possibly exceeds) caloric expenditure. When overtraining, the body may be depleted in various nutrients. To assist in the process of recovery, it's important to ensure that a diet high in carbohydrates, lean proteins and healthy fats such as omega 3 oils is met. Carbohydrates will provide the brain with fuel, the oils help relieve depression and proteins will rebuild overtrained muscles.

7. Addressing Vitamin Deficiences

Addressing vitamin deficiencies with nutritional supplements. It is essential to get vitamins from food, however when overtraining is a concern supplementation is beneficial. Supplements should be taken in addition to meals and with meals for their essential and proper absorption.

8. Split Training

Splitting the training program so that different sets of muscles are worked on different days. Once you have rested enough for your body to recover from overtraining, be smart and plan your training split ahead of time.