Mary was a mother of two who began a vigorous exercise program of weight lifting and running, one to two hours a day, six days a week. Not only did she fail to lose weight, she actually gained weight, and found herself battling fatigue, irritability, and constant colds and flus. As it turns out, Mary was exercising too much.
Overtraining weakens the body
While regular exercise is vital to good health, studies show overtraining can actually deplete hormones, depress immunity, lead to bone loss, increase the risk of injuries, slow healing, increase inflammation, and cause a general feeling of burn-out.
Sufficient recovery between exercise sessions and exercising at an appropriate intensity will get you fitter faster without compromising health.
Overtraining and high cortisol
Overtraining causes your body to pump out extra cortisol, a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands that helps us cope with stress. High cortisol can cause bone loss, and muscle breakdown, create belly fat, increase sugar cravings, and lead to insulin resistance, a pre-diabetic condition that causes high blood sugar.
Overtraining and low cortisol
Some people who overtrain suffer from low cortisol, which can lead to weight gain, fatigue, low blood sugar (with dizziness, light-headedness, and irritability), muscle weakness, difficulty recovering from workouts, and poor immune strength.
American life is already stressful
Clearly, neither high nor low cortisol produces the desired effects of an exercise regime, and both cause a chronic inflammatory state that ages you quickly. Throw in other factors of modern American life—stressful lifestyles, too little sleep, poor diets, too many sweets and caffeine—and overtraining can be the tipping point into cortisol-driven disorders.
Symptoms of overtraining
How much exercise is too much? This varies from person to person. Overtraining for one person can be another person’s warm up. An adrenal salivary panel will show you your cortisol levels, but it’s especially important to pay attention to signals from your body, which is harder than it sounds for the driven athlete accustomed to pushing the envelope.
Symptoms of overtraining include persistent tiredness, worsening strength and stamina, sleep disturbances, slow recovery, aching joints or limbs, injuries, and frequent illness, to name a few.
Exercise should boost energy, not drain it
Appropriate exercise boosts your energy and your sense of well-being. And while some muscle soreness is normal, you should experience energy, mental focus, and a good mood during recovery periods between workouts.
Ask us about an adrenal cortisol panel to help you establish and appropriate intensity level for your workouts.
Thanks. This article was very helpful. Question: i am wondering if i am suffering from overtraining. I am having slight random dizziness throughout the day and I wonder if the dizziness described here is during training or just throughout the day (even when not training). I dont have any muscle/joint soreness but i am logging about 8-10 hrs a week 50% cadio 50% weightlifting spread in 6 days (morning). I ve been doing this routine for about 10 months now and this was the first time i’ve experienced the dizziness. I had muscle soreness during the first couple of weeks but once my body got adjusted i felt pretty ok but this was the first time i had the dizziness. I went to the doctor and after doing some physical examination they told me i was fine probably just have anxiety. Appreciate any feedback.— Jayson
Hi Jayson,
I have to give you a disclaimer upfront, that I can’t give you medical advise and that this is only meant to be a source of information and does not constitute medical advise. Because I have not examined you and reviewed your case, I can’t recommend specifics or make a diagnosis.
Now that we have that out of the way, it sounds like you have adrenal fatigue. I would personally have two things checked, cortisol levels through a salivary adrenal stress index, and your hemoglobin A1C (a marker of blood sugar variation over 3 months). On the surface, overtraining does seem likely to me, but again, with an exam it is hard to tell. The salivary stress index is an excellent way to see if you are overtraining, and the A1C marker will tell you if you are having blood sugar issues, hypoglycemia being more likely. There are a number of things that can cause dizziness that range from minor to serious conditions, a physical exam was the right first step.
Overtraining is very easy to do, and you may want to take one week off where you focus on eating a health diet and getting more sleep. Resume your training and see how you feel. Every time took one week off after several months of dedicated training I felt much stronger and had more energy when I returned.
Hope this is helpful. If you have any other questions just let me know.
Thanks for your question.
Dr. Shook
Dr. Shook,
Thank you so much for the quick response. I forgot to mention that my doctor ordered the AIC when I initially consulted her and I mentioned the possibility of diabetes (since we have a family history) She did ordered the test but i did not fast and the blood was drawn 2 hours after I ate. It came back normal but was wondering if the test would have been different (meaning should I have fasted) if i wanted to check if i have hypoglycemia rather than hyperglycemia. Anyway, i was wondering where i could get the salivary stress test? is taht something that i need to talk to my doctor before she can order the test (it usually takes weeks to have a schedule open with her) or would a commericial lab offer it for immediate result? Thanks for your advise- I will definitely take a week off and see how my body feels! THANK YOU again for the feedback. — jayson
Jayson,
You are welcome. You don;t need to fast for the A1C. You do however, want to look at all of your lab tests in the “normal, functional ranges” rather than the pathological “lab ranges”. Standard lab ranges are disease based….over or under a number and you have a disease. Functional ranges are more narrow and seek to determine deviation from normal before it becomes a diagnosable disease process. There are functional ranges for A1C too.
The salivary adrenal stress index can be ordered from DiagnosTechs, they are the leaders in salivary adrenal testing (ASI). Your doctor can order the test, but many traditional doctors will not. They will tell you to get cortisol levels form your blood, but that is not a good measure, the ASI measures cortisol 4 times in one day allowing you to determine if there is a problem with you circadian rhythm of cortisol production, which is one of the main goals of the test.
If you have any other questions, let me know.
Dr. Shook