Movement Foundation

Over-training

Over-training is a risk for people that enjoy doing a lot of physical activity and for people that lead very busy lives with limited time for adequate rest.

Whilst physical exertion is generally good for improving insulin resistance and metabolic health it is also a stressor. As with all stressors, excessive amounts of exercise will over-challenge the body and create a detrimental stress effect. Inadequate rest will worsen this by not allowing repair and recovery time.

• If you are doing frequent intensive exercise, ensure it is balanced with adequate rest. Recall the phrase “You get fit when you rest.”.
• Reduce the intensity or duration of intensive exercise.
• Many wearables track activity and measure how relaxed the body is when asleep. This information can provide a helpful indicator about whether exercise intensity, duration, and frequency need to be reduced.