5 Ways to Avoid Injury & Fatigue
There’s nothing better than a sweaty Symetrie session to start your day… but of equal importance is adding enough rest and protocols into your routine to prevent injury and fatigue. After all, if you’re injured, you’ll find yourself sitting out of your favourite HIIT circuits for a lot longer than one day!
Fatigue and overtraining can look and feel like many things, including insomnia, moodiness, excessive muscle soreness, difficulty concentrating, lacking motivation, changes in appetite, regular injury (or illness), fatigue and even an abnormal heart rate.
These are warning signs that it’s time to think about slowing it down and giving your body some extra love. When you’re overtraining, chances are you’ll see your results slow or even plateau, and your performance will drop too. So don’t just push through the pain, listen to what your body is telling you!
But not to worry... to prevent you getting to this point, here are our top 5 easy tips to prevent overtraining and injury.
1. Listen to your body.
The easiest way of all to prevent fatigue and injury! Your body is constantly communicating with you, telling you what it needs - if you choose to listen to it! By tuning into how your body is feeling each day, you can adapt your workout routine to fit what your body needs most, meaning you’re also supporting better performance and results at the same time.
If you’re feeling lethargic and tired one day, opt for one of our calming yoga classes or our energising Power Pilates. Or, if you’re feeling like you’ve got loads of energy or you’re super restless, sweat it out in our signature HIIT circuit sessions instead.
Similarly, checking in with your body for twinges and pains will help you avoid injury - you’ll be able to pull back on exercises that aren’t serving you, and push yourself harder when you can feel you have more to give.
People often ask if you should train when you’re sick, and again the answer here is: listen to your body. It’s telling you it needs some time out - so give it that!
2. Schedule in rest days every week.
Aim to schedule at least 1-2 rest days into your workout routine every week. This is so important for preventing injury, and will actually help you see better results at the same time - contrary to what you might think!
When you train, you create tiny micro tears in your muscles. The process of your body repairing these tears is what actually helps you get stronger. So if you’re not giving your body enough time to rest and repair, then it can’t get stronger!
Rest days are essential for repair and recovery, building strength, and also boosting your performance on the days you do workout - you’ll find you have more energy, endurance and stamina after adding some rest into your routine!
3. Add variety to your routine.
Adding different types of training into your routine is also great for helping avoid injury and overtraining. Incorporating a mix of lower and higher intensity workouts, and targeting a range of body parts like all our sessions aim to do, will make sure you don’t overwork any one part of your body.
If you do HIIT on a Friday, consider a Pilates class on a Saturday. Feeling energised after Sunday Yoga? Try a circuit session on a Monday.
We have so many class options for you to choose from,you’ll find it easy to add plenty of variety into your fitness routine!
4. Make sure you’re fuelling your body for your workouts.
Nutrition is a key part of your healthy lifestyle. When you workout more, you need to eat more to give your body enough energy to perform in your sessions, and recover afterwards.
And we don’t mean eating more of just anything… It’s important to fuel your body with nutrient-dense foods including complex carbohydrates (think whole grains, sweet potato, vegetables), protein (chicken, fish, meat, legumes), healthy fats (nuts, seeds, avocado) and plenty of fibre (found in your wholegrains, fruit and veg). These will give you plenty of energy for your training, and help you achieve your goals in the gym.
If you’re not eating enough, or prioritising the right foods, your training will suffer and so will your body. This is a one-way ticket to injury and fatigue.
So aim to give your body all the nourishment it needs - and don’t forget to hydrate while you’re at it!
5. Don’t neglect your sleep.
Aiming for 7-9 hours of sleep each night is super important for avoiding injury and fatigue. Sleep allows your body the rest and repair it craves after a big workout, and gives you the energy to go again the next day. The more intense your workouts are, the more sleep you need to let your body recover.
If you’re not getting adequate, good-quality sleep, you’ll struggle more with fatigue, injury and illness. So hit the snooze button and catch your zzzs every single night!
While it’s normal and even good to feel sore or tired after a workout, if you’re feeling super exhausted and lacking motivation for days after a session, chances are you’re pushing yourself too hard. Listen to your body - it will tell you what it needs!
Overtraining won’t enhance your results, it will hinder them - so take the necessary steps to avoid it at all costs!