Overtraining and Walkers
When you first start a walking program, it is good to give a day of rest or alternate exercise activities between walking days. After a few weeks, you will find that walking at an easy exertion level can be done most days of the week without the need for alternating rest days.But for fitness walkers who are performing walking workouts at moderate to intense exertion levels, or increasing their distance, it is important to alternate easy days with hard days, and to give a rest day after a long distance walking day.
If you feel tired and sore, it is a good signal that you should do an alternate physical activity such as gentle stretching or yoga after a more intense exercise day.
Women and Girls: Signs You are Exercising Too Much: Our Guide to PMS lists the signs that women and girls are over-exercising.
Are You Exercising Too Much?: Our Exercise Guide gives the signs, symptoms and cure for overtraining.
Preventing Overtraining: Why Less is More: Conditioning requires a balance between overload and recovery. Too much overload and/or too little recovery may result in both physical and psychological symptoms of overtraining syndrome.
Overtraining with Weights: Andrew C. Fry, Ph.D. of the American College of Sports Medicine tells of the pitfalls of training with too much frequency, intensity or duration with resistance exercise and weights.
Cardio Overtraining: Many of us want to leap right into cardio exercise programs, but overtraining can hurt your progress to your fitness goals.
