When you’re preparing for a marathon or conditioning your body to run, it’s important that you have the proper training program.
A good program will ensure that you are not only in the best physical condition, but also protect you from overtraining.
Overtraining is dangerous because not only does it fatigue your body unnecessarily, but it also puts you at risk for injuries.
Overtraining is counter productive to your health and fitness goals, so it’s important that you make sure you are training adequately and training within your range.
Here’s how to protect yourself from overtraining in a running program.
Be mindful of the signs of overtraining
You know that you are training properly when you still feel motivated to do your sport. However, some warning signs to look out for are constant fatigue, longer recovery or healing times and a loss of excitement or development of apathy towards your activity.
If it stops being fun for you and you feel like you are instead dreading to train, then you may be overtraining.
Allow for rest days
To prevent overtraining, assign rest days during the week for you to rest. If you want to train daily, try to work out different muscle groups.
This is the best way to recover from the build up of lactic acid in the body, muscle soreness and fatigue.
If you are sick, take a break. During your break days, relax and keep your physical activities to a minimum to allow your muscles to rest.
Keep yourself properly hydrated
While you are working out, takes water breaks. This allows you even a few minutes of rest time in between periods of vigorous and strenuous activity.
Eat the right food
Help your body recover faster and have better immunity by eating a diet rich in lean protein, low in fat and high in anti oxidants.
Consume a lot of green leafy vegetables and fresh fruits packed with vitamins A, C and E to help fight free radical damage on your cells. The faster your cells can recover from stress, the sooner you can get back into shape.
Make sure you stretch properly
Before and after your work out training session, make sure that you stretch your muscles properly. Stretching helps your muscles be protected from injury, since it helps you become more limber.
Do something different
When you’re training for a running program, it’s important that you balance the workout of your entire body, and not focus mainly on your legs or cardio work out.
Another approach is to do a different type of workout when exercising the same muscle groups. For example, you may go jogging, but also try sprinting, Pilates, yoga or playing a different sport.
Cross training wakes up your muscles because it’s introduced to something different and it helps keep you sharp and alert.
Treat your body right especially when you want to be at your peak performance. Eat the right food, get ample rest and listed to your body signs so you can be aware of overtraining.