How to Avoid Exercise Burnout

Let's talk about exercise burnout…

About 6-7 years ago I was really, terribly over trained — completely burnt out. I didn't know it back then because it had never occurred to me that regular exercise can be a bad thing.

Watch today's video to see how what kind of training can lead you to exercise burnout and how you can avoid exercise burnout.

But exercise is healthy, right?

Of course it is, but only when done right.

Which is not the way I worked out back then… I was completely burnt out, and I was stuck in this pattern of constant overtraining for almost 10 years. If you're going through something similar, know that it's entirely possible to avoid it.

One of the Most Common Exercise Burnout Symptoms…

One of the exercise burnout symptoms that I had back then was bad insomnia. I went to bed around 11pm, fell asleep okay, but be up at 4am, eyes wide open, mind racing like crazy. I was really frustrated because it was happening literally night after night but I had no idea what was wrong. I would toss and turn until 6am, maybe got little bit of sleep if I was lucky, and then headed out to run as soon as there was little bit light outside (and because I lived in Finland, a lot of times there wasn't any during the winter mornings!).

I somehow managed to get through half a day but then needed a nap. Because I was a PhD student, my schedule was bit more flexible so I could take that nap when I needed.

I never realized that working out so much — which back then meant at least 10 hours of cardio per week — could be the reason for why I wasn't sleeping, why I didn't have my period and why I was supper irritable an annoyed all the time. Not going into details but let's just say that I feel for my ex boyfriend…

Are You Experiencing Exercise Burnout Too?

But I'm not the only one… A new friend of mine sent me a DM recently and said that after spending about 3 years trying to figure out what's up with her sleep, she's finally realizing that the root cause was overtraining and low-ish carbohydrate intake… In the last 3 months she decreased her exercise and is now sleeping much better.

You may also have had other symptoms of too much exercise and burnout. Check out the video above to learn more about the warning signs and what to do about them.

Questions and comments are always welcome!

 

Take Your Fitness Personality Test!

This super fun and simple quiz tells you what type of exerciser you are, gives you tips on how to make your exercise better and most importantly, avoid burnout.

CLICK HERE for the quiz!