With trainers and group exercise instructors telling you to “Push harder!” all.the.time, do you ever wonder how hard is too hard? Well, you should.
If you take it too far, too often or for too long, here’s what you might see:
- Regression in performance and/or gains. You can actually lose that lean muscle you’ve have worked so hard to build, endurance you have been building, and even confidence in yourself.
- You can get injured. Over-exhaustion leads to poor form which can lead to injuries. Not fun!
- Bigger issues like Phabdomyolysis, where the muscle breaks down and releases nasty toxins in your body that make you very, very sick.
How can you tell if your pushing to hard? Here are 7 ways to tell:
- Your heart rate monitor tells you. If you use a wearable that tracks your heart rate, note that you should not be in the red (over 90* +) for more than a few minutes.
- You loose your cookies
- It’s hard to breathe when you stop the activity.
- You don’t have energy after the workout.
- Your form goes bad.
- You feel and sort of sharp pain, a.k.a. bad pain.
- You are sore instantly.
So, in the spirit of challenging your body to change your body, yes, go for it! But be smart and avoid pushing so hard that you set yourself back.