When you are an athlete, working out harder and pushing yourself is how you work to get ahead. However, your body has its limits. If you continue to push beyond them, you may suffer from a condition called overtraining athlete syndrome. This...
Exercise and athletic training allow you to grow because of controlled stress to your body. When exercise is too frequent and intense, or you neglect recovery, overtraining syndrome occurs. When overtrained, your body can no longer recover from...
Exercise breaks down muscles, stimulating growth and repair as you rest. Though you probably only think about the time you exercise, rest is an equally important part of your training. If you do more exercise-induced damage to your muscles than...
If you are putting in too many hours at the gym or training too hard for sports, your body may begin to respond negatively. Overtraining syndrome is a common condition among athletes and fitness enthusiasts, one that can manifest itself through a...
Taking a day off from your workouts allows your body to properly recover from training stresses. Proper muscular recovery ensures that you can perform the best you can during your next workout. Failing to take regular days off between workout...
Exercise has long been advocated as a treatment for depression. A 2000 study published in "Psychosomatic Medicine" found that moderate aerobic exercise was as effective as medication in decreasing symptoms of major depression and that subjects who...
Pushups, a strength-training exercise that requires you to push your body away from the ground with your arms while keeping your back straight, is a very adaptable exercise that is just as beneficial for beginners as for devout bodybuilders. Doing...
Making gains in the gym means continually increasing the intensity of your workouts. Adding weight, reps or exercises to the previous workout are effective ways to force the body to adapt by gaining muscle and strength. However, there is a point...
The basic formula for weight loss is to eat less and to exercise more. Once you realize the weight loss benefits of exercise, you may find yourself adding more to your fitness regimen. After all, more is better, right? This is true -- to an...
Aerobic exercise enhances cardiovascular health and burns calories. Becoming more aerobically fit means you can tolerate working at a higher heart rate zone for a longer period of time and are better able to take in oxygen to fuel your workouts....
Stepper home trainers are inexpensive pieces of workout equipment. Their small size and affordability make them an option for people with limited room or money to spend on exercise equipment. You can use a stepper trainer as an aid to weight loss...
Muscular endurance is the ability of your muscles to contract repetitively at a submaximal intensity, according to the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Muscular endurance is important for sports like distance running and cycling; it...
Cycling is a low-impact exercise, meaning it doesn't place much pressure on the joints and the knees in particular. Because of this, many people are able to cycle pain and injury free. There are, however, many repetitive motions in cycling. If...
Overtraining syndrome is often feared among the weight-training community. In order to get stronger, fitter and improve your performance, you must train hard and constantly strive to lift heavier weights, perform more repetitions and train at...
As the weight on the scale begins to rise and the jeans become a little too tight, the first response is to head to the gym to lose the excess weight. Working out to lose weight requires a strategy; working out too often can leave you injured and...
Exercise improves your health, daily functioning and sports performance. But too much exercise can actually defeat these goals. Tracking your heart rate can help you determine if you are overtraining. Learn to recognize the symptoms so that you do...
Working out more than once a day can accelerate weight loss. Weight loss occurs when your body uses more calories than it takes in. Physical activity increases metabolic rate, subsequent caloric expenditure and weight loss success. Weight loss...
Exercise is a key factor in a healthy lifestyle and is needed for fitness, weight management and overall health. As with most things in life, exercise can be harmful when done in excess. Excessive exercise, also known as overtraining, can lead to...
Since the earliest days of sport and competition, there has been a special niche for a type of psychologist who focuses on the effects of sports on the brain and behavior. Sports psychologists study how sports play a role in human development,...
Overtraining is when you exceed your capacity for exercise. Your body has a limit to the amount of exercise from which it can recover. If you are running more mileage and your performance is getting worse instead of better, you may be suffering...
Whether you work out at home or a large health club, you have options available to you through various exercise machines. Regardless of what type of machine you decide to train on, be it a home gym or a commercial elliptical trainer, knowing how...
Sore muscles can make you feel stiff and slow. Your muscles may feel so tight certain movements become painful. While it's sometimes best to call off your run to let your body recover, it's possible to put in a solid workout with sore muscles.
Running, or any aerobic training in moderation, has a positive effect on health. There is a point of diminishing returns, however, where chronic stress from overtraining, which is common in runners, correlates with problems in the adrenal glands....
When it comes to advancing your running, more is not always better. If you increase intensity, distance or difficulty -- such as with hills -- too quickly, you will actually degrade your running ability as opposed to improving it. This is known as...
Excessive exercise for weight loss comes in various forms with debilitating consequences. Aerobic and resistance exercises can be done to such an extreme you will suffer from overtraining syndrome. The American Council on Exercise advises...
Running most days of the week, especially if you do the same routine, will render you fatigued and over-trained. The nervous, muscular, endocrine, psychological, immune and metabolic systems are overloaded when you run for too many days, leaving...
After a vigorous exercise session, it is normal to feel a bit worn out. But if you are feeling chronically lethargic and run down, your fatigue might be a sign of other problems. To get the most from your workouts, balancing exercise with rest,...
Overtraining is a serious risk for athletes and people who exercise consistently. It occurs in athletes involved in every sport and physical activity, including endurance sports, like running, swimming and cycling, as well as team and individual...
Regular workouts are a standard recommendation for maintaining physical fitness and health. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, adults under the age of 65 should do 20 minutes of vigorous-intensity cardiovascular exercise three...
