Are you overtraining or just undereating?

It makes logical sense that the more you exercise, the fitter you’ll get.  Right?  Yes, but only to a certain point.

Elite athletes train, train, and train some more but often start to feel slower or weaker.  Why is that? Are they overtraining?

Short answer, not necessarily.

“If you’re training harder, your appetite doesn’t necessarily keep up with your caloric needs. That means athletes may be running a caloric deficit without even realizing it and attributing the resulting fatigue to their training.” Read more here.

Fatigue occurs when there’s a significant calorie or carbohydrate deficit, the macronutrient that’s most important for exercise!

So, no — athletes aren’t necessarily always overtraining. The fatigue they’re experiencing could be from just not eating enough to fuel them!

But this doesn’t only happen to athletes.

This can also happen to high-performance people. You know the ones — 60+ hour work weeks, always travelling for work, all while trying to balance their families, other relationships, and outside-of-work obligations. It’s a LOT and if you’re chronically under-fueling, or creating too large of a deficit between calories out and calories in, it can happen to you too.

Accurately measuring how many calories you eat and how many you burn to ensure you fuel enough for your needs, or in the case of desired weight loss, being sure you create the appropriate and safe caloric deficit, can be a challenge. We can help!

 

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Source: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/article-pushing-too-hard-without-adequate-recovery-can-lead-to-a-condition/