Over training

 Physical symptoms:

1. Lingering soreness in the muscles.

Mild soreness in muscles, especially at the beginning of a weight training routine or any strenuous physical endeavor, is common.

Furthermore, it is a good sign.
...
A sign that the muscles involved are being worked effectively.

However, lingering aches and soreness that does not go away for weeks at a time is not a healthy sign.

2. Inability to complete workouts.

When the soreness, or your lack of endurance, interferes with ability to complete your training routine, something is amiss.

3. Decreased strength.

The whole point of progressive resistance exercise is to become stronger, certainly not weaker.

4. Chronic fatigue.

Feeling tired all the time is a sure sign that your body does not have the time to recuperate from your work load.

5. Injuries.

When you are training too much, injuries, not only to the muscles, but to the joints, ligaments, cartilage, etc., are more prone to occur.

6. Colds and infections.

This is a sure sign that you are not only wearing down your muscular system, but placing an undue burden on your precious immune system.

If left unchecked, the common cold you are experiencing, could lead to pneumonia.

7. Insomnia.

We have all, occasionally, experienced, tossing and turning, waking up tired, lack of sleep, etc. However, does it only occur on a regular basis when you are training?

8. Constipation or diarrhea.

Over training can make itself known in the behavior of the digestive system.

9. Excessive weight loss.

When an excessive physical workload is placed on the body, it will kick up the demand for calories and take them from where ever it can.

First, and foremost, it will be in the form of excess fat found anywhere on the body.

Obviously, this is good, in most cases.

However, after that, a break down will occur in the muscles.

10. Elevated resting heart rate.

Normally, a conditioned athlete, has a lower than normal resting heart rate.

However, an elevated pulse is usually a sign of stress, either physical, mental, or both.

11. Heart palpitations.

If you are experiencing heart palpitations or an irregular heart beat, it is time to visit your physician.

12. Lower testosterone levels.

As with everything mentioned above, an increased demand is also placed on the hormone system.

Psychological symptoms of over training.

Don't be surprised if you recognize some of these symptoms from your own experience:

1. Loss of appetite.

Most people who are involved in any type of strenuous physical activity have a ravenous appetite.

When I was a kid, my father would say, "It sounds like a sword fight at the kitchen table!"

But, believe it or not, the stress caused by trying to do too much and too often, will manifest itself in loss of appetite.

2. Irritable or moody.

Yesterday's description of the physical symptoms of over training will, no doubt, make you feel very uncomfortable.

The stress of not feeling well will lead to irritability and mood swings.

3. Loss of motivation and enthusiasm.

If you find yourself making excuses to keep from training or walk into your gym and say, "Man, I really don't feel like doing this today...", it's a sure sign that you have not recovered from your last workout.

You should be looking forward to each training session with renewed vigor.

4. Loss of competitive drive.

While you may have a training partner that you compete with, your most important competitor should be yourself.

Any and all progress should be carefully recorded in some type of journal.

If you start to feel lethargic about your training and decide to just skip the record keeping altogether, then you may be over training.

5. Depression.

Just as people feel upbeat on sunny days and feel down on cloudy days, your training progress may have the same effect on you.

You may skip training sessions and feel guilty.

You may look at your training as a chore.

6. Potential mental breakdown.

If the aforementioned depression is not confronted and held in check, it may, in rare cases, lead to a mental breakdown.

Everyone experiences any of the above six symptoms from time to time.

However, it is when they don't quickly pass that they become a real problem that interferes with your progress.

(Edited from an email - Bill Hinbern - strengthbooks.com)