Whether you are a die-hard gym-junkie or a “start and stopper” (you start a fitness program, follow it diligently for several weeks or months, then stop), or somewhere in between, no doubt you’ve hit a point when you were either:

• Tired of exercise
• Tired of the gym
• Tired of your routine
• Tired of not making steady progress…

I could add more, but I think you get the point: at some point, your exercise routine, no matter how regimented (or not) it is, might get stale. Psst…I have a secret: An often over-looked, but very important, component of that plan is “recovery” time!

Recovery time is built into fitness plans to allow the body time to rest. During this built-in rest time, lots of good stuff happens. Muscles rebuild themselves and metabolic changes take place at a cellular level. There is a lot going on when we exercise that we may not feel or see. Without recovery days, the body can’t properly rebuild and repair. Miss these important rest days enough times, and several things may occur:

• Burn out
• Injury
• Lack of progress (you won’t see further adaptations – you’ll “plateau”)

Follow this “Rule of Thumb”: 1-2 days of rest per week, not necessarily in a row. For weight training, switching to a cardiovascular activity the following day, or training different muscle groups, will allow the muscles previously trained time to adapt and recover. The same goes for cardiovascular activity: after several days in a row of cardio, a day of rest or cross-training is a good idea. This will give you a chance to work different muscles and allow the muscles typically used a chance to rest. So if you are a runner, cross-training with cycling or swimming gives the “running” muscles a chance to rest. This is why Triathlon training is often called the perfect “triad” — cross-training is built in!

Exercising is good for you, but if you exercise too hard, too long, too often, problems can arise. (Case in point – read: Listen to your body. Respect your limits.)

Overtraining syndrome occurs when the training you are doing breaks you down, making you weaker rather than stronger. This is why every training program, from marathon training to strength training, recommends a “rest day” after periods of intense training – this allows the body time to repair itself. Without this time to repair, regeneration of new muscle tissue doesn’t occur, and performance does not improve.

Maybe it is delayed onset muscle soreness, or the fact you mulched the yard right after running 7 miles and strength training the day before, but if you are an exercise fanatic, you may have overuse/overtraining issues. The symptoms of overtraining mirror symptoms of many things, but if you have in fact trained yourself into a tizzy, there are some common symptoms.

Common symptoms of overtraining:

*Fatigue that limits workouts and may even be present during rest.

*Moodiness and becoming easily irritated

*Insomnia and sleep problems

*Decreased appetite

*Weight loss

*Muscle soreness

*An increased number of illness

*Injuries that are taking longer to heal, or won’t heal

In this situation, adding more exercise, even after rest, will only make matters worse.

What to do:

REST! The more, the better, especially if you have been training intensely for some time. For example, if you have experienced symptoms for a month or so, resting for a week should help. After this rest time, resuming workouts on an every other day routine will ease the body back into activity. By reducing the volume of training you do, you’ll allow the body adequate recovery time.

Cross-training can never hurt. Mix up your regular routine with exercise that works different muscles. If you run, throw in a swim workout, or Pilates.

If a return to exercise brings symptoms of overtraining back, a trip to your physician or sports med doctor is in order. He/She can help you ease back into exercise safely.