There isn’t an established upper limit for exercise. It’s important to understand that the intensity of exercise is relative to your capacity. A deconditioned person who has been inactive for more than 6 months could go on a 20 minute jog and feel extreme soreness for several days, while a fit person could do the same activity as a light warm-up. Elite athletes often engage in many hours activity per day without experiencing symptoms of overtraining. So how do we know when we are over doing it?
We aren’t going to talk about all the problems overtraining can cause, but here are a few: Muscle soreness that lasts more than 5 days, a decline in your performance level despite regular training, elevated resting heart rate/ body temperature, digestive issues, and many more. Overtraining can also leave you more susceptible to repetitive stress and acute injuries. If you’re exercising and not recovering after 3 days, you should probably rest or do very light intensity activity until you have fully recovered, then when you resume exercising, consider reducing your exercise intensity, mixing in lighter intensity workouts between higher intensity workouts or adding a day of rest between workouts. For example: If you are doing a high frequency of HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts and start experiencing symptoms of overtraining, you could take enough time off to allow your body to fully recover, then resume training by alternating the high intensity days with rest days or lower intensity activities, such as light cardio or mobility focused yoga.
You can avoid overtraining by starting your workout regimen at the proper intensity level and maintain a gradual rate of progression. What does that mean? It means: Listen to your body! If you aren’t recovering, rest. If it’s getting too easy and you are plateauing, make it harder.
There is usually an inverse relationship between training intensity and volume. You need to be careful if you are trying to increase both variables at the same time. Making gradual progressions, to give your body time to adapt is safer. Don’t forget to get plenty of sleep and high quality nutrition! Everything discussed so far are general concepts. If you are new to exercise and want to get started in the safest, most effective way, it would benefit you to consult with an experienced fitness trainer.