Is over exercising causing you more stress?

Oh exercise! how I love you and all your benefits but have some of us gone too far?

We all know exercise is beneficial and has a long list of health benefits including weight management, blood sugar control, depression, energy, ageing, joint health, cardiovascular health and the list goes on. BUT… what happens when we overdo it and exercise becomes more of a stress on the body rather than a benefit?

This is when you will feel more fatigued from exercise rather than energised, as your muscles won’t have time to properly repair. Regular muscle soreness, inflammation and joint damage (not to mention more injuries) will follow. If you are hitting the high intensity workouts on the regular, not only do you need to be backing it up with proper nutrition and supplements (to give the muscles what they need to heal and repair properly) but also adequate rest to enable the repair.

When you are in a constant state of intense exercise, the stress hormone cortisol (which likes to store fat) will be high too. This is why some people who excessively exercise can actually gain weight! (particularly around the tum). So, giving those adrenals a rest is important too.

If this is you, today I give you permission to take the foot off the accelerator and rest up! AND back up your exercise with plenty of healing and repairing nutrients such as good quality protein, zinc, omega 3’s, Vitamin E and Vitamin C. This way you will reap all the benefits exercise is known to offer and your body will love you for it.