Winter Over-Training

Even though most of the country is in the midst of snow storms, bitter cold and ice storms Spring is just around the corner. This is the time of year when we start to decide what our race schedule will look like for 2014. One of the more difficult transitions from late Winter into Early Spring is the adjustment of your training. If you spent the last months inside a gym sprinting on the tread, doing high intensity work on the bike, rowing and lifting with lots of intensity you may begin to suffer from over-training. A lot of us (me included) seem to work extra hard in the winter and not take as many days off. What are some signs of over-training 1) You are getting weaker. You used to run at 8.5 for 2 miles now a 7.5 is a lot of effort. You used to do 40lbs dumbbell thrusters for sets of 20 now you can barely get 10. These are clear signs something is wrong and your body needs a rest 2) You are sore every day. For me the first sign of over-training is the my joints ache. Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) every day is another sign of over-training. If you hit it hard every day and each morning you wake up sore and tired you may need to scale it back. 3) You are sick more often. Over-training can have some negative effects on the immune system. How to combat over-training. 1) Rest and Recover. This can best be achieved by listening to your body. If you are tired, sore and unmotivated-take the day off!! 2) Diet - A cleaner diet will help restore vitamins and minerals depleted during exercise. 3) Supplements - Not even a clean diet can help with high intensity exercises. Invest in good recovery supplements such as fish oils, recovery shakes (I use Progenex)and protein. Only 6 more weeks until we can get outside and train! rich