Last year a new client came to me with a problem. She should have been in incredible shape -- she was running 50+ miles a week, doing yoga daily and training for her first triathlon. Despite her best efforts, however, she found her performance had plateaued or even decreased. Digging deeper, I asked about her mood and sleeping habits. "The smallest things annoy me," she said. Her sleep, diet and performance at work were all out of whack too. Her problem: overtraining.
I've made a career out of working out and I spend a lot of time motivating my clients to love it as much as I do. Fortunately for me, your body and brain want to help me out. When we exercise we release endorphins -- the chemicals that make us feel good -- into our brains. Endorphins have both pleasurable and addictive effects, and many regular exercisers feel compelled to work out more and more and even feel guilty if they miss a day's training. Dialing your training back can be difficult and overtraining can easily creep up on you.
