We all like to exercise, and we always get encouragements to do more. We know about the obesity epidemic that exercise can help overcome it, and one of the most popular exercises is running on a treadmill.
The CDC advises that if we exercise 2 hours and 30 minutes a week, we will have even more health benefits. It is always better to exercise more, but it is challenging to know when you are doing too much treadmill running.
The guide below will help you understand the symptoms of doing too much treadmill running.
Symptoms of Over-exercising
There are apparent symptoms of exercising and running a lot on the treadmill. After all, athletes train for hours a day and don’t end, but it’s different for you. You can feel the symptoms when you’re excessively training, but they can be very subtle and not immediately noticeable. Below are some of the most common symptoms.
1. You’re feeling down
If you are generally a happy person with a positive outlook and start feeling some form of depression, you may be doing too much treadmill running. It can be one of the symptoms of ramping up to your race too soon or too fast. If you feel that you have some weight on your head, you may be overdoing it even when you are not training.
2. No motivation
Once you are familiar with running, you usually have some motivation. You run very regularly, and you still have the feeling that you want more. Of course, running can come naturally, and you can’t wait but look forward to doing it. If there is no interest in running, as usual, you may be overdoing it.
3. You are often ill
It is an unmistakable and definite symptom from the body that you are excessively exercising. Healthy and fit people generally have an excellent immune system. Usually, you should not have many illnesses. However, if you exercise too much and get a cold, you can get sick. You may have problems that your body can generally recover from, but they will definitely affect you, and so you need to rest.
4. Low energy
If you feel very tired or abnormal exhaustion, you may be running a lot on the treadmill. As a runner, you may be feeling that you have the energy that you need. The body keeps giving you a lot of energy to prepare you for training. In case you start feeling the tension as you run on the treadmill, or when you feel exhausted, your body is asking you to rest. Moderate exercise is good stress for a healthy and fit body. Typically, it makes your muscles and bones stronger. However, when the body undergoes excessive stress from too much treadmill run, you may feel wiped out.
5. Excessive weight loss
Once you set your running routine, you should do the same with your energy intake. If you burn those calories, you will need to replace them. If you want to lose weight, stop losing weight when you reach a healthy weight. You may need fat because it protects your organs. Check your weight regularly and do something about it if it is too low. In case you find that you lose weight excessively, it may be a sign of over-exercising.
6. High resting heart rate
Your heart rate also gets higher than normal when you exercise. The resting heart rate is generally lower in healthy people than in those who do not train. A healthy person can be between 50 and 60 years old, while those who do not exercise are around the low 70s. Keep on monitoring your heart rate, as this will give you tips on your performance and when you are exercising too much.
7. Shin splints
If you run a lot, you may experience a lot of pain in your shins. You may still have that feeling on a comfortable, smooth treadmill. There are minor fractures that can occur, and if you keep racing with them, it becomes worse. All you can do is take a few day’s rests for the fractures to heal.
8. Muscle pain
It still has a name in the medical community: Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). They cannot know the cause of this soreness, but after a busy day of treadmill run, the muscles become sore. The following morning, you may feel pain in your legs. It will go away in a day or two, but it may make the situation worse and increase the chance of further injury if you keep training.
Chronic joint pain develops gradually, making it easy to overlook. You may not suddenly notice a radical change in your body’s condition, but an excessive treadmill run can affect your muscles without even realizing it. Be careful what you feel after the race. Sometimes you have to step back to move on.
9. Difficulty breathing
If you are out of breath due to an activity that you often do without difficulties or problems for a week or a month, something is wrong. Causes of breath shortness can be many factors, such as heart diseases, high blood pressure, or lung disease. In case you feel shortness of breath during a treadmill run, it might be a sign of too much running, and you need to take a rest.
10. Light-headedness
Dizziness, when you feel like fainting, can sometimes occur after a workout due to dehydration. You may also experience dizziness after exercise as a side effect of taking medication for hypertension. Blood pressure is usually lowered 30-60 minutes after exercise. When you take antihypertensive drugs and practice, you often experience symptoms of low blood pressure, such as dizziness.
However, if you feel drowsy while exercising, it can indicate heart or lung problems, and, in rare cases, it can be a sign of a stroke or brain tumor. However, it is highly advisable to rest if you feel dizziness when you are doing a treadmill run as it may be a sign of over-exercising.
11. Joint pain
Arthritis is a common cause of joint pain, but joint pain usually subsides with exercise. If a joint hurts and does not loosen up during the workout, it is an indication that something is wrong. Possible problems include injuries to a tendon, ligament, or muscle. Joint pain can usually indicate excessive running on a treadmill.
12. You still cannot get that definition
Using a treadmill as your primary form of workout can shrink your body, leaving you with an elegant and unwanted physique. Running on a treadmill reduces body fat and muscle mass. Most of us want to lose fat but want to keep our muscles in good shape. In other words, any treadmill can transform your body into a smaller version of the same physique instead of revamping it completely. It can typically be an unfortunate side effect of carrying out too much treadmill run.
13. You can’t sleep
If you talk to your doctor about insomnia, the first thing he will probably recommend is exercise. Moderate exercise during the day can prevent or even improve wakefulness. You have to move your body all day to stay healthy and sleep well.
However, new research shows that too many workouts can lead to sleeping issues. It turns out that excessive exercise can increase stress hormones, such as cortisol. At bedtime, these stress hormones can prevent you from sleeping. After staring at your clock all night, you should reduce your treadmill run and see what happens.
Bottom Line
In conclusion, you should avoid too much treadmill running. Running on a treadmill every day may not be much, but if you don’t want to run on a specific day, a day off won’t affect your progress during training. Overtraining is much easier when you are weight-exercising, as it takes time for your body to recover from this type of exercise. Running on a treadmill is easy for the joints, but it is still possible to overdo it. It is advisable to follow your heart rate to help you avoid exercising too much. In most cases, this is the first sign, and as long as you continue to enjoy it, you should be fine.