Are You Overtraining?Many of us get excited about fitness. It’s how we’re wired. Maybe it’s not fitness you’re excited about, maybe it the shared experience of working out with your friends. Maybe it’s pushing yourself to places you’ve not been before. Regardless of your why, we can all get a little caught up in the “more is better” mentality. Guess what? It’s not.Often, training more is a slippery slope towards overtraining. It can not only ruin your gym experience, but it can have effects outside of the gym as well. Signs of Overtraining- You’re hungry and tired, all the time. The more we workout, the more calories and sleep we need. Increased energy expenditure always means increased recovery time is needed. Eat. Sleep (at least 7 hours a night, 8 and you get a gold star). Stretch.- You’ve stopped seeing increases in your numbers.Your squat is stuck at X weight. What do you do? You workout more. You squat more. You do accessory work outside of the class workouts. This should work, right? Most times, no. What you really need is better recovery methods (see previous paragraph), or a change in your program. Our nutritionists can help you figure out the food. Our coaches can guide you to the right kind, and the correct dosage of work. Utilize them!- You're not excited to workout anymore.Not excited may be an understatement. It might even feel like a chore to exercise. This is a definite sign that you’re working out too much. Sometimes it creeps up on you, other times it smacks you right in the face. This is your body saying “ HOLD ON DUDE, I NEED SOME TIME.” Listen. Recover. Find a new approach, and implement it.I mentioned our nutritionists and coaches earlier. They are great at helping you optimize your experience at the gym. Also, scheduling your workouts like meetings, and sticking to the schedule, is a great way to avoid overtraining. Knowing what kind of workload you have for the week allows you to plan your food, your sleep and your life to make sure you stay on track.Interested in talking to a nutritionist or coach to optimize your experience at the gym? Set up a consultation at PittsburghFIT.com/Go today.