As a middle-aged athlete, it is rewarding to see the benefits of consistent exercise. Your body is healthy, your mind is productive, and you have the physique of a person half your age. You are not a weekend warrior, instead, exercise is a part of your daily routine like brushing and flossing your teeth every day and night. The compliments and the way you look and feel often make you feel like even more activity will make your body and mind even better than ever.

This mindset can be dangerous for athletes because it can lead them to overtrain. Running or other high impact sports involve up to three times the impact on your body weight. This dramatic impact often leads to illness and injury to the body. This overtraining not only renders you unable to complete your next athletic event (such as a triathlon or marathon), but also could affect your future fitness pursuits. Here are some ways you can avoid overtraining and not get sidelined by an injury.

There are many early signs of overtraining such as insomnia from waking up too early or trouble going to sleep at night. Athletes may feel the pressure of work and also the need to complete the training program for their next event by regularly cheating their need for sleep. This often leads to an over dependence on caffeine to get your body moving in the morning or to keep it going during the day. Other signs include fatigue, headaches, elevated morning pulse, inability or lack of desire to complete exercise workouts, increased illnesses, injuries, and an increased frequency of colds and flu. Loss or appetite or a decrease in performance can also occur. Emotional changes can also occur, such as moodiness, irritability, or lack of concentration or lack of desire to complete the event.

Chronic or nagging muscle aches and joint muscle pain can also result from overtraining. Other signs can be chronically elevated heart rate at morning rising, at rest, and during exercise. Some women experience menstrual cycle disturbances or irregular periods, while others will stop menstruating altogether if their body fat decreases to unhealthy levels. Injuries such as shin splints, tendonitis, and plantar fasciitis are also common side effects of overtraining.

If you have been overtraining, the remedies are simple. Increase your intake of water and be sure that you are eating a healthful diet with a mix of lean proteins and complex and simple carbohydrates with an adequate intake of fruit and vegetables to increase your daily fiber. Healthy omega unsaturated fats such as 3s, 6,s and 9s should also be included in your diet. When increasing your activity level, adjust your daily activity level by no more than 10% volume each week.

Cross train by adding non-impact activities such as biking, walking, yoga, and swimming to your cardiovascular exercise routine each week. Adding strength training at least 2-3 times a week is a valuable way to increasing your muscle mass and the stroke volume of your heart muscle each week. A deep tissue sports massage will also help. Dynamic stretching should be done before an activity and static stretching should be a part of the end of each workout. Most people need 7 to 10 hours of sleep every night. Test your body by not setting an alarm clock and seeing when your body naturally wakes up. Don't be afraid of naps. A daily 15-minute nap can refresh and energize you, especially if you struggle with adequate sleep at night. And finally, take a day or a week off in between when overtraining occurs. This break will not hurt your performance. Instead, it will allow you to come back more refreshed and re-energized and ready to compete than if you did not take any time off exercise. Taking these steps will help you achieve your maximum level of performance at any age.

References:

References Physical Overtraining 

Preventing Overtraining - When Less Is More 

Too much of a good thing