Men\'s Health UK - 10.2019

A

01

02

04

03

05

...I OVERTRAIN?

Pushing yourself too hard in

the gym will derail your mood,

health and, of course, your gains.

Know the signs to avoid burnout

01

FALSE

ECONOMY

One of the joys of training

is seeing positive changes

to your fitness and, let’s be

honest, your appearance.

But there’s a limit. To

better understand

overtraining, think of it

as under-recovering. Push

too hard with insufficient

rest and you’ll eventually

inflict long-term damage

on your health, causing

your muscle-growth to

plateau, or even regress.

03

CRASH AND

BURNOUT

Going too hard, too fast

could help you look slightly

better in swim shorts, but

you also risk low energy

levels and depression.

A study in the Journal

of Experimental Biology

found that men who push

beyond their limits increase

their creatine kinase levels

by five times – an enzyme

that will leave you wired and

anxious on the beach.

04

PAIN TRAIN

Overtraining can

cause disrupted sleep,

erectile dysfunction and

hypertension after just

two weeks, not to mention

a decline in athletic

performance. Allow this to

continue for months and it

could lead to overtraining

syndrome. Simply stopping

won’t immediately reverse

the damage: Sports Medicine

suggests a full recovery

could take years.

05

BRING IT

BACK HOME

Long-term success

depends on balance. A

burst of all-out effort

can be successful if it’s

followed by a reduction

in volume and intensity.

It’s a myth that you get

bigger and stronger in

the gym – in reality, you

progress at home, when

your body repairs and

adapts. Bear in mind that

the problem is often the

volume, not the intensity. By

all means go hard, but make

sure you go home, too.

02

WASTED

EFFORT

Beasting your Friday arms

session might not cause

any long-term harm, but

is it effective? Specific

muscle groups can

only cope with

a certain amount of

adaptation in a given

time, so six sets

won’t be twice as

good as three

sets. That’s why

mixing things

up is still

the smartest

policy.

A LACK OF REST CAN

LEAVE YOUR PROGRESS

IN THE SHADE

MEN’S HEALTH 25

A

08

LESS IS

MORE

WORDS: TOM WARD | ILLUSTRATION: PETER GRUNDY

WHAT

HAPPENS

WHEN...