MamasHealth.com Home Swimming Pages Avoid overtraining Avoid sunburn Lap swimming etiquette Swim gear guide Swimming benefits Swim safety for children Swim strokes Swim tips Water exercises Water safety Water tools Swimstroke demonstrations Email Mama High elbow catch Power stroke Tone your abs	Don't Overtrain Overtraining is the leading cause of injury and burnout. Swimming too much or too hard for your fitness level without proper recovery time will lead to overtraining. Overtraining is often trying to do to much in a short period of time. Too much overload and/or too little rest will cause a state of physical, chemical and mental imbalance. Symptoms of Overtraining: chronic fatigue disturbed mood states muscle pain body aches depression suppressed athletic performance decreased appetite cravings for sugar and caffeine loss of competitiveness increased susceptibility to upper respiratory tract infections changes in resting heart rate changes in sleep patterns Tips to Avoid Overtraining: Keep a training log Include an assessment of how you feel while training. Monitor your pulse. For 7 days, take your resting pulse for 60 seconds before getting out of bed. Once you establish an average resting pulse, whenever your resting pulse is more than 5% above your average resting pulse, run for 1/2 your usual mileage. When your resting pulse is greater than 10% of your average resting pulse, don't swim that day. Rest. After a hard workout, take a day off. You will feel refreshed when you swim again and your body will thank you.	Advertise on MamasHealth.com
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