There is a fine line between exercising for your health and exercise hurting your health. More is better right? When I was a top athlete, the only way I trained was to go all out. The more I worked out the better I would be, the harder I trained the greater my successes.

And I was successful, but I also had injury after injury. I would win a big international Judo tournament, but get hurt in practice or competition and not able to attend a qualifying tournament for the European and world championships. No pain, no gain — is it true? To a point, but that’s where the fine line sets in. There is some muscle, body pain and lung burning going on when working out hard, whether it is running, martial arts, lifting weights or any other sport out there. But, when is it too much? The following are signs and symptoms from the ACSM’s health and fitness journal:

More than 125 signs and symptoms have been identified in other published literature but the most common signs and symptoms of over training are:

• Persistent heavy, stiff and sore muscles
• Persistent fatigue, washed-out feeling
• Decreased performance and ability to maintain training regimen
• Increased susceptibility to infections, colds, headaches
• Nagging and somewhat chronic injuries
• Sleep disturbances
• Decreased mental concentration and restlessness
• Increased irritability
• Depression
• Tachycardia (faster heartbeat than normal at rest) and, in some cases bradycardia (slower than normal heart beat)
• Loss of appetite and weight loss
• Bowel movement changes
• With females, absence of menstruation.

You might think you are doing the right thing for your body, but in reality you are harming yourself. So how do I know I am not doing too much?

• Listen to your body and take extra recovery time when needed.
• Follow the 10 percent rule — don’t increase training volume and/or intensity by more than 10 percent at a time.
• Change up your workout routine through periodization format, with higher intense and volume periods to extended periods of rest and recovery time.
• Cross train. A variety in your training is very healthy and beneficial.
• Rest accordingly. After a hard workout, your body usually needs at least 24 up to 72 hours of recovery depending on how hard and long you have worked.
• You should not feel wiped out after a workout; you should actually feel you could do more. If not, you are doing too much.
• Proper nutrition and hydration is very important. Seek a professional dietitian, when needed, who is knowledgeable with sports nutrition.
• Quality sleep is essential. This is the time when your body is restoring and rebuilding.

As with eating, keeping a log on your exercise routines can be very beneficial. Write down what you do at what intensity and time, but also how you felt.

Most people would think this only applies to competitive athletes, who believe “no pain no gain” is the only way to work out. As coaches, personal trainers and athletic trainers, we need to guide and support our athletes young and old. We need to stress that training hard responsibly and effectively is the key to a healthy successful career. But, this also applies to someone who is exercising purely for health, body or stress relief. Too much is not the healthy way to exercise.

Do you have signs and symptoms of over training? Your family doctor would be a great resource to help steer you on a path of health and not self destruction.

Any qualified trainer or coach can assist you and guide you to a program that will be beneficial in your training regimen not hindering your improvements.

So whether you are a competitive athlete, health seeker or stress relief exerciser, make sure you do it for your health — not hindering your wellbeing.

Ester H Marsh ACSM certified personal trainer