Adrenal Fatigue Symptoms
What is adrenal fatigue? It is a condition (some even classify it as an illness) that occurs when your body is subjected to prolonged periods of physical or mental stress.
Gaining is an activity that causes tremendous stress to your body. Your muscles and your entire system are literally ‘under attack’ when you train so intensely with weights. Frequently your body’s stress coping mechanism—the adrenal glands—will be triggered to cope with this stress and will eventually become fatigued.
Remember, the adrenal glands are not designed to perpetually be dealing with stress. Think about it this way: A 100 meter dash sprinter cannot sprint for an entire marathon. His training regimen is designed to produce short powerful burst of energy which are unsustainable for a marathon.
Below are some of the most common adrenal fatigue symptoms to watch out for. They are a clear sign that you are overtraining and you need to give your body, at a minimum, an entire week’s break.
- Feeling tired constantly in spite of getting adequate sleep. You will feel groggy through out the day especially in the late afternoon. Sometimes oversleeping only makes the problem worse!
- Inability to perform intense training. When you go the gym you will not be able to lift as much weight as you are accustomed to and even the little you are able to do will be a struggle. Your workouts feel ‘flat’ and you do not experience a ‘pump’.
- Difficulty concentrating. Even simple tasks seem to take monumental effort and you are almost never able to get into ‘the flow’—the state of extreme productivity.
- Craving sugar and starchy and unhealthy foods. You are much more likely to engage in comfort eating. See this related article on Cortisol Levels.
- Difficulty getting up in the morning. You hit snooze for the umpteenth time and still don’t feel like getting out of bed!
- Feeling moody and irritable for no apparent reason.
There are more minor adrenal fatigue symptoms but these are the major ones. If you have been training hard and are experiencing them it is definitely time to take a break. You may think that you are falling behind on your fitness/training goals but you will actually get ahead by taking a break.
By Don Demarco
