10 Signs You’re Overtraining And How To Fix It

1. Constant Fatigue & Low Energy Levels

Why It Matters: If you're always tired—even outside the gym—your body isn't recovering properly. Overtraining depletes energy reserves, leading to exhaustion, brain fog, and lack of motivation.

Fix It: Reduce your weekly training volume by cutting back on excessive workouts. Focus on getting 7-9 hours of high-quality sleep, prioritize rest days, and fuel your body with enough calories and nutrients. Sleep is where your muscles rebuild—neglect it, and your progress suffers.

2. Decreased Strength & Performance

Why It Matters: If your lifts are getting weaker or you struggle to hit previous reps, your body is under too much stress. Overtraining leads to central nervous system fatigue, slowing down recovery and making you feel weaker instead of stronger.

Fix It: Take a deload week by lowering the weight and reps while focusing on form and technique. Reduce intensity temporarily, add more recovery days, and track your workouts to ensure you're not pushing past your limits every session.

3. Always Feeling Sore or Achy

Why It Matters: Muscle soreness is normal after intense workouts, but if you’re sore every single day, your muscles aren’t recovering properly. This leads to chronic pain, tightness, and increased risk of injury.

Fix It: Incorporate active recovery days with light movement like walking or yoga. Use foam rolling, stretching, and contrast showers to improve blood flow and reduce soreness. Consider adding more rest days between intense training sessions.

4. Poor Sleep Quality

Why It Matters: Overtraining disrupts your sleep by increasing stress hormones like cortisol. If you struggle to fall asleep, wake up frequently, or feel exhausted even after sleeping, your nervous system is overstimulated.

Fix It: Train earlier in the day to prevent late-night adrenaline spikes. Avoid stimulants like caffeine or pre-workout 4-6 hours before bed, and create a nighttime routine that promotes relaxation—dim the lights, put your phone away, and meditate or read.

5. Increased Resting Heart Rate

Why It Matters: A consistently elevated resting heart rate (RHR) is a sign of chronic stress and overtraining. Your heart is working harder than it should, even when you're at rest, meaning your body is in constant recovery mode.

Fix It: Take 2-3 full rest days, prioritize hydration, and reduce workout intensity for a few sessions. Track your morning resting heart rate with a smartwatch or fitness tracker—if it's higher than normal, you need more recovery.

6. Constantly Getting Sick

Why It Matters: Overtraining weakens your immune system, making you more vulnerable to colds, infections, and illnesses. If you’re frequently sick or take longer to recover, it’s a sign you’re overworking your body.

Fix It: Cut back on training frequency and incorporate fun, low-intensity workouts like swimming, hiking, or boxing. Prioritize immune-boosting foods like citrus fruits, leafy greens, and lean proteins. Sleep and stress management are also crucial for keeping your immune system strong.

7. Increased Injuries or Nagging Pain

Why It Matters: If you’re constantly dealing with joint pain, strains, or recurring injuries, overtraining is breaking your body down. Ignoring these signs leads to serious injuries that can take months to heal.

Fix It: Reduce heavy lifting frequency, add mobility work, and listen to your body. If something hurts, don’t push through it—rest, ice, and modify exercises to avoid making things worse. Long-term progress requires smart training, not just hard training.

8. No Gains: Stalled Progress Despite Hard Work

Why It Matters: Training harder should mean getting stronger, but if your progress has hit a wall, it’s likely due to overtraining and under-recovery. Your muscles need time to rebuild after intense workouts.

Fix It: Focus on progressive overload, ensuring you're getting enough protein and calories to support muscle growth. Take a deload week to let your body recover and come back stronger instead of constantly grinding through fatigue.

9. Losing Motivation & Feeling Burnt Out

Why It Matters: If training starts to feel like a chore rather than something you enjoy, burnout is setting in. Overtraining drains your mental energy and makes working out feel like an obligation rather than a passion.

Fix It: Change up your routine with different exercises or new activities like boxing, swimming, or outdoor training. Reduce the number of workouts per week and add more social or fun elements—train with a partner, try a new gym, or set fresh goals.

10. Mood Swings & Increased Stress

Why It Matters: Overtraining doesn’t just affect your body—it messes with your mind. Constant physical stress leads to irritability, anxiety, and even depressive symptoms. If you’re always on edge, exhausted, or unmotivated, your training is doing more harm than good.

Fix It: Prioritize mental recovery by incorporating meditation, deep breathing, and stress management techniques into your routine. Take deload weeks as needed, spend time on hobbies outside of fitness, and make sure you're training in a way that feels sustainable.