Exercise is good, right? Moving our bodies can be transformative for our mental health and physical wellbeing. But, according to Google trend data, the search term, “am I over-exercising” has received a 9,900% uplift in the past month alone. So, it seems you actually can have too much of a good thing.
With wearable fitness trackers and TikTok workouts all spurring us on to be “harder, better, faster, stronger” it's no surprise that we may be overdoing it on the old fitness front. In many cases, we may be actively doing our best to ensure we're incorporating a healthy routine into our lifestyle, while actually putting more pressure on ourselves than necessary.
“One of the most dangerous things about over-exercising is that most people don’t realise they are doing it,” acknowledges hormonal health expert Mike Kocsis at Balance My Hormones. ‘In fact, most people who over-exercise believe they are partaking in healthy habits. Those who over-exercise also often tend to monitor their calorie intake. This combination is a sure-fire way to throw your hormones out of whack," he notes. “At first, over-exercising doesn’t seem like a problem, but it can creep up on your body,” agrees Dr Abir Alafifi, GP (functional medicine & aesthetics) at Zen Healthcare Clinic Dubai Branch. “That’s why it’s so important to recognise the signs your body gives you when it’s reaching its limits,” she adds.
5 signs you're overexercising…
A healthy amount of exercise can bring with it countless benefits for your mind and body, but if you don't allow your body the time it needs to recover it can go into recovery mode. Below are some of the signs you might need to slow down the pace…
It may sound counterintuitive, but overdoing it in the gym can lead to you gaining weight. “Oddly enough, despite all the hard work, your performance might actually drop or plateau,” says Dr Abir. “That’s because your body isn’t getting enough time — or the right fuel — to recover and rebuild properly. The metabolism can become low, which can slow down or stop you from losing any more weight,” she adds.
Hormonally, this can be due to increased cortisol levels. “Cortisol is the stress hormone that initiates the fight-or-flight response,” explains Mike. “Repeated high-intensity workouts or prolonged exercise increases the body’s production of cortisol. Persistently high cortisol hinders the thyroid’s workings, reducing levels of T3 and paving the way to stubborn weight gain, thinning hair, and brain fog,” he says.
Exercise can help you sleep. Too much though, and you may find it has the opposite effect. “You might notice that your sleep takes a hit, and you will either struggle to fall asleep or wake up a lot during the night, which can be linked to elevated stress hormones like cortisol staying too high for too long,” says Dr Abir.
“Excessive cortisol has a detrimental impact on sleep hygiene,” Mike concurs. “The stress hormone will ensure that a person takes longer to fall asleep, wakes up frequently throughout the night, and decreases the amount of REM sleep obtained. As a result, the body will not be able to recover from any exercise,” he says.
If your periods are all over the place, excess exercise could be responsible. “If women are training in excess, hold low body fat and in a calorie deficit, the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis (a crucial part of the endocrine system that regulates reproduction and sexual development) is hindered,” says Mike. “As a result, a person may experience irregular or even absent periods. This is often referred to as exercise-induced amenorrhea,” he explains.
“Missing periods is a major red flag,” agrees Dr Abir. “This is your body's way of telling you that it is under too much stress and it doesn't have enough energy to support non-essential functions like reproduction,” she adds.
Your mood is one of the first things that can be sent out of whack when your body isn't getting the rest it needs. “The most common early signs of over-exercising are constant fatigue, cramping, mood swings (feeling more irritable or emotionally low) and decreased immunity even after rest days,” says Dr Abir.
Once again, your hormones play a role. “Testosterone is vital for sexual health, mood, energy, and overall health for both men and women,” says Mike. “Overtraining potentially reduces the production of testosterone, seeing a person experience lower libido, muscle wasting, extreme fatigue, and depression,” he explains.
In light of all the other signs, it probably won't surprise you that if you're run-down from over-exercising, you're more likely to be at risk of illness and injury, too. “Other symptoms can also include getting sick more often and picking up injuries like stress fractures or joint pain,” confirms Dr Abir.
“Once a term reserved for professional athletes, RED-S (or relative energy deficiency in sport) is increasingly diagnosed in average gym-goers and fitness enthusiasts,” says Mike. “RED-S is defined as when a person’s energy output surpasses their energy input, harming everything from their cardiovascular function to bone density. In fact, research conducted by the British Journal of Sports Medicine reveals that 42% of female gym-goers have experienced at least one symptom of RED-S, from irregular periods to recurring illnesses,” he adds.
How to exercise safely?
So, we know how damaging too much exercise can be, but how do we strike the balance? If you're exercising regularly, gym-goers and fitness fans need to ensure they “get the right amount of rest and nutrition through their diet, as when the balance between training, nutrition, and rest is off, everything else unravels,” says Dr Abir. It's a good idea to look for extra ways to boost recovery. “Treatments like NAD+ Cryotherapy and IV vitamin infusions with the right supplement choice can really help with muscle recovery, immunity, inflammation, metabolism and oxidative stress,” Dr Abir adds. And, “if you’re ticking off a few of the signs [mentioned above], it’s definitely worth easing up and speaking to a professional to avoid burning out or causing long-term issues,” says Dr Abir.
For more from GLAMOUR's Senior Beauty Editor, Elle Turner, follow her on Instagram @elleturneruk
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