Exercisers of all levels are susceptible to overtraining. For an elite athlete,
overtraining might be running 80 miles in a week; for a beginner, running 8
miles might be too much. Here are some signs that you’ve overdone it:Your resting heart rate sounds like a jackhammer drilling through
concrete. In other words, if your heart rate is way above what it normally
is — say, about 10 beats — take it very easy or take a day or two off.
(For details about your resting heart rate, see Chapter 2.)You feel chronically sore or weak.If you lift a ketchup bottle and it
feels like a 10-pound dumbbell, stay home.
You get chronic colds and infections.You’re not sleeping well.
You’re irritable, anxious, or depressed. It’s not a good sign if you lock
your keys in your car and smash the window to retrieve them instead of
calling the auto club.You can’t concentrate or you feel disoriented.If you make a left-hand
turn signal while you’re on a stationary bike, it’s time for a rest.Chapter 8: Cardio Crash Course 125
What happens if you stop exercising?
Aerobic conditioning is a use-it-or-lose-it propo-
sition. A couple of days of inactivity won’t set
you back, but if you continue to slack off, your
improvements fade in a matter of weeks.
Research indicates that most of the benefits
from aerobic training are lost within two weeks
to three months.
But there’s good news, too. You can preserve
your hard-earned fitness even if you go through
a period when you don’t exercise as much as
usual. Suppose you’re a CPA. You get into a
really good routine of jogging on the treadmill
four days a week for a half-hour, and you keep
up the routine for four straight months. Then,
suddenly, tax time arrives, and for two months
you’re buried in 1099s, IRS long forms, and
401(k) plans. Well, instead of abandoning exer-
cise altogether, which would practically guar-
antee that you lose all your conditioning, you
can cut back and still maintain your fitness for
up to 12 weeks.
Instead of running 30 minutes 4 days a week,
you could get by with 30 minutes twice a week
or 15 minutes 4 times a week. The only require-
ment is that you keep up your usual pace. When
you get back to your regular routine after tax
time, you may find that you’ve lost no fitness at
all — or maybe just a tiny bit.