Overtraining: Should I Skip Today’s Workout?

You might be dedicated to your fitness journey, but every now and then, you might find yourself asking: Should I push through today’s workout, or would it be better to rest?

The concept of overtraining is real, and skipping a workout could sometimes be the best decision for long-term gains.

Here’s why:

What is Overtraining?

Pretty self-explanatory, but overtraining happens when you push your body beyond its ability to recover.

Exercise, particularly strength training and intense cardio, causes microscopic tears in your muscle fibres.

When you rest, your body repairs these tears, making your muscles stronger and more resilient.

However, if you don’t give your body enough time to recover, those tiny tears don’t get a chance to heal properly.

Over time, this can lead to a range of problems like fatigue, injury, or even regression in performance.

The Science of Recovery and Muscle Growth

When you work out, you’re actually breaking down muscle tissue. The real muscle growth happens after the workout, during the recovery phase.

This process is driven by a mechanism called muscle protein synthesis, which repairs and builds muscle fibers.

Studies show that this repair process peaks about 24 to 48 hours post-workout, but it can take even longer for larger muscle groups or more intense sessions.

If you train the same muscles before they’ve fully recovered, your performance will suffer, and so will your progress.

Signs You Might Be Overtraining

1. Chronic Muscle Soreness and Fatigue

When you overtrain, the soreness lasts longer than the typical 48-hour window. This is called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). Extended soreness could mean that your muscles haven’t fully recovered from previous workouts. DOMS can also be a result of lactic acid build-up, which occurs when you push your muscles too hard for too long without rest.

2. Decreased Performance Levels

Struggling to lift the same weights or run the same distances you did just last week? This might be a sign that your body hasn’t recovered fully. Research has shown that when athletes overtrain, their performance tends to drop. This is because the muscles are still repairing and haven’t regained their full strength.

3. Elevated Cortisol Levels

When you exercise, your body releases cortisol, a hormone that helps with energy production. However, prolonged elevated cortisol levels due to overtraining can lead to muscle breakdown and increase fat storage, counteracting the benefits of exercise.

4. Suppressed Immune Function

Research also shows that overtraining can suppress your immune system. This happens because intense, continuous exercise without proper recovery creates stress, which can reduce the number of immune cells in your body, leaving you more susceptible to illness.

5. Disrupted Sleep & Mood Swings

The stress of overtraining can also disrupt sleep patterns, further hindering your body’s ability to recover. This is because high cortisol levels can interfere with the production of melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep. You might also experience irritability, anxiety, or mood swings due to the hormonal imbalance caused by overtraining.

What Happens When You Rest?

When you rest, a series of important biological processes take place. During this period, your body increases the production of human growth hormone (HGH), which plays a key role in muscle repair and regeneration. Your nervous system also recovers during rest, which is crucial for coordination, strength, and endurance.

Skipping rest days can negatively impact your central nervous system (CNS), leading to chronic fatigue, poor coordination, and reduced strength. This is why you may feel "off" during workouts if you've been training without proper rest.

Active Recovery: A Smart Alternative to Rest

If the idea of skipping a workout day makes you feel uneasy, consider active recovery instead. Activities like light walking, swimming, yoga, or stretching promote blood flow without straining your muscles. Increased circulation during active recovery helps deliver nutrients to fatigued muscles, speeding up the repair process.

The Science of Active Recovery

Research suggests that light, low-intensity exercise during recovery periods enhances the rate of muscle repair compared to complete rest. This happens because the gentle movement increases blood flow, flushing out metabolic waste like lactic acid and delivering more oxygen to your muscles.

The Bottom Line

Overtraining can set you back if you ignore the signs. Remember that progress happens during recovery, not just while you're working out. Skipping a workout or incorporating active recovery isn't a step backwards—it's a strategic move to keep your fitness journey sustainable and effective.

So, should you skip today’s workout?

If you’re experiencing any of the signs of overtraining, a rest day or an active recovery session might just be what your body needs to come back stronger.

We Know Our Stuff

When it comes to rest and recovery, we’ve been there and seen it all, especially when it comes to active recovery methods like mobility work and stretching.

You can see it for yourself.

We’ve got a couple of resources dedicated to making sure you can stay mobile, recover properly and prevent injury.

If that sounds like something you can get on board with, check them out

• Ankle Injury Rehab & Prevention Plan
• Rest, Recovery and Stress Management Guide
• Mo7ion Mobility Handbook: Volume 1

We hope you enjoyed this one!

Until next time,

-Mo7ion

(P.S., you can subscribe to our newsletter with more fitness, nutrition and recovery tips here)