Higher, faster, further - these are no longer just the goals of competitive athletes. In the amateur field, many try to optimize their performance - but health can fall by the wayside.
Cologne (dpa / tmn) - restless and nervous, constantly zipper somewhere and desire for training has been absent for weeks: These are warning signals that athletes should take seriously. Because these signs speak for overtraining.
Even if sport and exercise are generally good and healthy, you shouldn't overdo it: the physical and mental consequences can be serious. Experts give tips on how much sport it should be and when to apply the brakes.
Basically, exhaustion must be in order to achieve a training effect at all, as Prof. Ingo Froböse from the Cologne Sport University explains. But: "Many do too much right at the beginning. Sport doesn't work according to the motto" A lot helps a lot "."
Beginners should feel challenged at first
Beginners should therefore only train every two days in such a way that they feel subjectively challenged, as the expert recommends. The cardiovascular system adapts to physical stress after two to four weeks. "Ligaments, bones and tendons take three to four months to get used to an active life."
The signs that you have exaggerated with the sport are mentally and physically diverse. According to Prof. Froböse, the physical signals include susceptibility to infection, red and warm joints and an increased pulse the next morning. And of course pain.
"If pain occurs 18 to 24 hours after exercising, this is due to the training," emphasizes Froböse. This is how long it takes the immune system to make its repair processes work.
Pain serves to protect health
You should take it seriously: "Pain is always an important signal and always serves to protect health. You can ignore it when you run an important run two kilometers from the finish line, but in the long run it is dangerous," explains Valentin Z. Markser, Chairman the German Society for Sports Psychiatry.
Overtraining can also make a mental impact: you are restless and nervous, sleep poorly or are no longer interested in training. The latter in particular is often difficult to distinguish from simple motivation difficulties, the so-called inner piggy. Markser explains the difference: "If the bad mood persists even after exercising, that's a sign that you should take seriously."
Because the consequences can be grave: a mental depression can result. In the worst case, physical fatigue threatens to cause physical fatigue, as Froböse explains.
Extreme self-optimization can be dangerous
To prevent this from happening, Markser recommends that you do not train on your own if you have a strong focus on performance and competition. "Especially in the amateur sector, there are more and more people who do extreme self-optimization without sports medical support. That is a great danger," says Prof. Froböse.
It is also important to have fun in the sport and not always have to force yourself. "Whoever says to himself" I only do this because it is healthy "runs the risk of suffering mentally from the training." Markser recommends sports beginners, especially if they are older than 35 years, a sports medical examination before starting the training.
There is an overview of this at the German Society for Sports Medicine and Prevention (DGSP). During the examination, cardiac, circulatory and lung functions are checked, an orthopedic examination is carried out and serious underlying diseases caused by urine and blood tests are excluded. In the best case, athletes have this check done regularly.
Sufficiently long breaks are important
Breaks are particularly important to prevent the training from overwhelming you. "The greatest danger of being overwhelmed arises not from individual, too intensive training units, but from their sum and short breaks," explains Froböse. Basically, the more sporty you are, the shorter the break can be.
During this time, the body should be supplied with water and energy, especially in the form of proteins. "We recommend 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight," says the sports scientist.
As for the length of the breaks, Froböse gives recommendations based on experience from sports science. It is best for athletes to take a 12 to 18 hour break after a run, and untrained to take a 24 to 36 hour break. After building muscle, you should pause 72 to 84 hours with this form of training. "Athletes never do two strength training sessions in a row," emphasizes Froböse. Those who train coordination or new techniques should let this sink for up to 72 hours.
No marathon in the first year
In order to train appropriately, you should also set reasonable goals. Froböse says that wanting to run a marathon as a beginner in one year is completely exaggerated. "You should set goals that are possible after six to eight weeks."
For example, depending on your own fitness level, this means wanting to walk three, five or seven kilometers after two months. If you have achieved this, you should reward yourself and set a new, equally small-scale goal - you will also master motivational holes.
In the event of serious problems due to excessive demands in sport, medical and possibly psychological care is required. If, on the other hand, you have overexerted yourself a bit, Froböse recommends that you completely give up training for two to three days. "It usually works wonders."
The next seven to ten days are best put into so-called regeneration units - run or walk very calmly and do some light endurance training. "In the event of slight overstraining, the body usually doesn't take longer than two weeks to recover."
Correct training: the pulse as a control unit
A sign of being overwhelmed by sport is the increased pulse in the morning after the workout. This means that the body does not shut down properly. To check this, you first determine your resting heart rate, explains sports expert Prof. Ingo Froböse from the German Sport University in Cologne.
To do this, you measure your pulse every morning for a week as soon as you wake up: for 15 seconds you count the heartbeats, for example on the wrist or neck, and multiply this number by 4. The result is the number of heartbeats in 60 seconds. This is the so-called resting pulse, which you take as a comparison value.
If the resting heart rate in the morning after training is increased by four to six beats, it means that you have not yet recovered and it is best to take a break when it comes to sports.
Homepage Prof. Froböse
Homepage DGSP