Physical exercise is an ideal complement to our daily lives.and it offers multiple benefits for women’s health, such as prevention of cardiovascular diseasesthe protection of bones or the most common: weight loss. Nevertheless, Excessive sports practice has consequencesand the habit you did to protect your health can turn against you and cause the opposite effect, especially in women. This has been confirmed by various studies that have reached Spain.
Among the effects that can manifest in the body when overtraining Both those at a muscular level and those at an internal or mental level stand out: from colds to anxiety. This is especially important for womenas studies have shown that they face a higher risk of suffering the adverse effects of overtraining due to the hormonal changes typical of menstruation.
What is overtraining syndrome?
Before determining the symptoms that indicate that perhaps you are training too much, it is necessary to know what is this problem called: overtraining syndrome. The authors of a study published in the journal Current Biology define it as a form of exhaustion, explained in endurance athletes by a unexplained drop in performance associated with a feeling of intense fatigue.
Overtraining syndrome occurs when an active individual or athlete they increase activity too quickly and the body cannot adapt or is unable to recover from a high level of sustained activity. We explain some of the effects you may notice when exercising excessively.
1. How does intense exercise affect menstruation?
The absence of menstruation or its irregularity It is very common in women. This can be due to different reasons, such as an unbalanced diet, infections, stress… and excessive exercise, among others.
When it occurs, it is recommended to go to the gynecologist, however, Sometimes it is enough to make a change in lifestyle habits. This includes ingesting the necessary nutrients, sunbathing enough to synthesize vitamin D in our skin, taking care of digestive health…
Well, an investigation that was published in Clinical Therapeutics showed that female athletes have a increased incidence of hypothalamic amenorrhea (the absence of menstruation for three months or more). Why?
The scientists explained that this is because “energy reserves do not cover the energy needs of the organism.” That is, due to the stress that the body is sufferinghormone production is lowerwhich shows that overtraining would add to the causes of irregular menstruation.
2. Does excessive exercise cause anxiety?
In Spain, Anxiety disorders affect women more than twice as often as menaccording to the National Health Survey. What is this due to? The psychologist Patricia Ramírez told Women that culturally, women carry many more responsibilities than men: “we combine the responsibility of the home, taking care of the children, working outside the home and the demands of being comfortable with your body.”
As far as overtraining is concerned, a study tested rats how eight weeks of daily intensive exercise on a treadmill affected their bodies. In this way, their physiological and psychological results were compared with those of a sedentary group and they found that those who had exercised too much They had suffered increased anxiety.
The authors explained that by taking physical activity to the extreme a hormonal imbalance occurredcaused by an increase in inflammatory cytokines and immune cells. And although this study has been tested only on animals, there is evidence that it could equally apply to humans.
3. What diseases does excessive exercise cause?
Indeed, although it may sound strange, overtraining can cause certain illnesses or colds. Although we know the sport as an ideal habit to prevent pathologies-and more so as the years go by-, you have to set certain limits or you will achieve just the opposite.
The truth is that if you do more than 90 minutes of high-intensity exercise daily you can have more risk of getting sick up to 72 hours after training. This is because at this time the body produces hormones that decrease immunity, as confirmed by research published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science.
But we are not just referring to a simple cold, as other studies mentioned in the article have stated that “intense exertion was associated with transient immune dysfunction, elevated inflammatory biomarkers and a increased risk of upper respiratory tract infections.
4. Skin damage
Our skin is the first to show the passage of time. In fact, with the arrival of menopause, great dehydration occurs and the first wrinkles appear.
The skin also reacts during more youthful stages, such as the arrival of the first menstruation, when the acne breakouts or rashes. Or sometimes redness simply appears, caused by other aspects such as overexposure to the sun, among others.
There are different ways to take care of the dermis and have a healthy and luminous appearance; However, not everything is creams and a good diet, there are also things that you should avoid, such as overtraining.
When exercising excessively, the body experiences stress, therefore levels of cortisol (the “stress hormone”) rise constantly. This can cause the sebaceous glands in the skin to produce more oil, resulting in clogged pores and rashes according to a 2014 study. In addition, they mention that they can appear inflammatory skin diseases, such as eczema, psoriasis or rosacea.
5. Can excessive exercise decrease libido?
There are many causes of loss or decreased sexual desire. Lucía Jiménez, psychologist and chief sexologist at Diversual, pointed out that “low desire can be associated with hormonal changes, daily stress, fatigue or conflicts in sexual relationships, among other reasons.”
For their part, the researchers of a study on the subject explained the relationship between overtraining and low libido. So, they examined data from a survey on exercise habits and libido in men in this case. They found that those who performed less intensive workouts were almost seven times more likely to have a normal or high libido. Likewise, those who exercised less were four times more likely to have a high or normal libido.
References
Blain, Bastien et al. Neuro-computational Impact of Physical Training Overload on Economic Decision-Making. Current Biology, Volume 29, Issue 19, 3289 – 3297.e4 (2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.08.054
Kimberly Huhmann. Menses Requires Energy: A Review of How Disordered Eating, Excessive Exercise, and High Stress Lead to Menstrual Irregularities. Clinical Therapeutics, Volume 42, Issue 3 (2020). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinthera.2020.01.016
Chung Y, Hsiao YT, Huang WC. Physiological and Psychological Effects of Treadmill Overtraining Implementation. Biology Basel (2021). DOI: 10.3390/biology10060515
David C. Nieman, Laurel M. Wentz. The compelling link between physical activity and the body’s defense system. Journal of Sport and Health Science Volume 8, Issue 3 (2019). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2018.09.009
Hackney AC, Lane AR, Register-Mihalik J, Oʼleary CB. Endurance Exercise Training and Male Sexual Libido. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise (2017). DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000001235
Ying Chen and John Lyga. Brain-Skin Connection: Stress, Inflammation and Skin Aging. Bentham Science (2014). DOI: 10.2174/1871528113666140522104422
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