Every Judoka who trains relatively hard has at some stage suffered from over-training. Many Judokas suffer from over-training because Judo is a sport where you train at a high intensity and you
push your body to the limit. You may also suffer from over-training if you are dieting for an upcoming tournament, have trouble sleeping or have a lot of stress in their everyday life. Many
amateur athletes burnout because they may have a full or part time job as well as train full time.
Over-training is very serious condition especially for athletes who are training for a certain competition because over-training will decrease your performance on and off the mat.
When you are over-trained you may suffer from a few of the following warning signs:
– Increase resting heart rate
– Little or no motivation to train
– Catching colds, sore throats or the flu more often
– Begin disliking the sport
– Increase in the likelihood of injuries
– Sore and aching muscles
– Sore and aching joints
– Depression
– Lethargy
– Mood swings
– Insomnia (can’t sleep)
– No or little appetite
If you are over-trained you must rest. Give your body some rest and once you are feeling better you may begin exercising again.
To avoid suffering from this you must listen to your body. I like to record my heart rate every morning. If my heart rate is above average then I pay close attention to how I am feeling, how my
appetite is and how my body responds during light exercise. If my limbs are heavy and lethargic and my heart rate is easy to increase I know that I am slightly over-trained and need to cater the
session accordingly.
If you are lacking in motivation or inspiration I would recommend having a few days off training as you do not want to suffer from burnout or over-training. In your days off do things you might
not have a chance to do such as go to the movies one night or hang out with your family and friends.
After a dew days off you will probably be itching to get back into training and you also be feeling a lot more energetic and excited to exercise again.
In the end, listen to your body. If you eat healthy foods, get plenty of rest and you should be right to begin training again.
I suffered a bout of over training just before I competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. I was training very hard at Tokai University and also dieting to make weight for the German Open. As a
result I caught the flu and ended up having a total of 5 days off training. My diet went out the window and I was 5kg overweight. We traveled to Germany and I had the worst few days of my life
trying to drop the excess weight. I ended up dehydrated and so tired that all I wanted to do was sleep. Afterwards I reflected on my preparation and decided to listen to what my body was telling
me and adjust my training load accordingly.
