EPISODE 54 LISTEN HERE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/54-immune-suppression-overtraining/id1446735036
Immune Suppression & Training We are in the middle of a world-wide health pandemic. We all know that exercise has positive health effects. Exercise can boost the immune system, but have you ever heard of immune suppression? Have you ever gotten sick from overtraining? We wanted to do a deep dive about how to avoid over training but still work to gain fitness and work towards your goals. Overtraining has A LOT of negative side effects and immune suppression is one of them. -What is overtraining and have you ever worked with someone who had fallen into the trap?
– How can you tell if someone is overtraining? Depressive Mood, Loss of motivation, Hard workouts, not feeling recovered – drastic Mileage increase, 90+ min long runs weekly, lack of rest days, running too fast
What are other signs you may be overtraining?
How should someone approach their training to ensure they do not over train?
Is it better to toe the line and see how much fitness you can gain & risk getting sick or stay healthy and be slightly under your potential?
Is there any type of workouts you would avoid doing if you are worried about immune suppression Hard speed workouts over 60-90 min in duration Long runs over 2 hours Long runs over 90 min with a lot of marathon pace or faster work
Exposing immune system to potential viruses within 3-5 days of doing these tough workouts
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Exercise boosts your immune system, but is there a point at which it can suppress your immune system? ‼️YES‼️We want to do enough to elicit a positive response but not too much to induce overtraining. In a state of overtraining, our immune systems become suppressed. Our bodies need enough recovery to adapt to the training! If not, we start to see symptoms of overtraining & stop improving
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👇SYMPTOMS OF OVERTRAINING:👇
✅Feeling bad after a run/worse than before you started the run
✅Constantly getting sick and/or not recovering quickly from illnesses
✅Heavy legs and chronic fatigue
✅Higher resting heart rate than usual
✅Insomnia
✅Moody/irritable
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👇PREVENT OVERTRAINING:👇
✅Recover properly especially after long runs over 90 minutes, speed sessions over 60 minutes, and races (EVEN VIRTUAL RACES!)
✅Good sleep, nutrition & hydration
✅Find your mileage sweet spot and don’t force more
✅Schedule cutback weeks
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👇WHAT TO DO IF YOU GET SYMPTOMS:👇
✅STEP BACK! We suggest taking a few days off immediately
✅Ease back into 50% of your usual mileage
✅Run easy mileage
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👉If you keep training with these symptoms, the improvements STOP and you cannot continue to improve. STRESS + REST = GROWTH! Without enough rest/recovery to match the training you’re doing, you cannot grow 🙌
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👉If you don’t have races coming up (which you likely don’t for a few more months), there is no use running yourself into the ground. We can’t underestimate how good of shape you can stay in by just staying consistent without big long runs or big workouts. You’ll be set up for success from consistency when you do want to ramp up for a race!💪
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