overtraining

about 8 years ago, with another sport, I overtrained, very badly. A combination of inappropriate nutrition and pushing too hard. I was on a near non-fat kick, and would get too worried that eating too much protein I was ingesting too many incidental fats, so I did high carbs. At soime point, I got skinny, but I wasn't getting any stronger, any more toned up. Then I started allergies, mild asthma - which I never had before, major performance plateu, and then it ended up with a walking pneumonia and finished off worh a real pneumonia. Just the pnumonia part had me out of comission from september through february, cause it kept flaring up once every few weeks. At firts, I had the attitude of, oh, it's just a little cough, I'll muscle through it... or 2 days later, oh, I'm feeling fine, let's get back on track. Atr that time, I was doing it on my own, didn't have access to coaching. After that, up untill this last year, I never got really enthusiastic about any kind of serious training. I mean, not even to get in shape. Well, I've learned a lot since then. Doing it differently this time.

Your body needs to recover after a workout. How much recovery depends on the individual and the workout. Inadequate recovery can lead to overtraining. Some signs of overtraining are persistent fatigue, frequent infections, personality changes (irritability, depression), or an increase in the resting pulse. Coaches incorporate recovery into their workout schedules by allowing for afternoons or days off and by alternating more intense practices with recovery type practices (drills, kicking, etc.).

I think I have an example. When I first started swimming over a year ago, I tried 5 swims a week. This was probably too much for an out-of-shape newbie. That fall and winter I must have come down with a cold half a dozen times (most years I ordinarily get one or two). I think it was a sign of overtraining.