Your client walks into the session looking drained, their usual energy replaced with fatigue and frustration. Their performance is slipping, and they mention persistent soreness that just won’t fade. These aren’t just bad days at the gym — they could be signs of overtraining.
As a personal trainer, your ability to spot these early warning signs and take action is essential for your client’s well-being, progress, and long-term fitness success.
In this article, we’ll explore both the obvious and subtle indicators of overtraining, equipping you with the tools to identify, address, and prevent it. With timely intervention and the right adjustments, overtraining can be transformed from a setback into a valuable opportunity for growth and recovery.
What is overtraining?
Overtraining can be described as:
“A physiological state caused by an excess accumulation of physiological, psychological, emotional, environmental, and chemical stress that leads to a sustained decrease in physical and mental performance, and that requires a relatively long recovery period.”
While accurate, this definition may be quite technical for your clients.
Simply put, overtraining happens when clients train too hard, too often, without enough rest and recovery. This imbalance between stress and recovery doesn’t just impact physical performance — it can also affect mental sharpness, mood, and overall well-being.
Left unchecked, overtraining can undo all of your client’s hard work and potentially cause long-term setbacks.
Recognising the early warning signs is key
The signs of overtraining aren’t always physical. A client might start skipping sessions, showing reduced enthusiasm, or struggling to stay motivated. These behavioural shifts are often early indicators of underlying fatigue and burnout.
As a personal trainer, it’s your job to stay vigilant, spot these warning signs early, and intervene proactively. Small adjustments at the right time can keep your client safe, healthy, and on track toward their long-term goals.
When clients know their trainer is actively looking out for their well-being, it builds trust and confidence in their program. This trust not only strengthens your client relationship but also encourages better adherence and consistency in their fitness routine.
How to spot signs of overtraining: 5 key indicators
Whilst there are many signs of overtraining, here are the top five to look out for:
Chronic fatigue
If your client shows signs of lingering tiredness that no amount of rest seems to fix, they may be experiencing chronic fatigue, a likely side effect of overtraining. This isn’t just about feeling tired after a tough workout; it’s a persistent exhaustion that affects their daily energy levels and performance in the gym.
Encourage clients to prioritise sleep, hydration, and nutrition and consider adjusting their training load to allow proper recovery.
Decrease in performance
Are your clients suddenly lifting less weight, running slower, or struggling with workouts they used to breeze through? A drop in performance can indicate that their body hasn’t recovered from previous sessions. Track their progress regularly so you can quickly identify these downward trends and adapt their training program as needed.
Low levels of enthusiasm
Motivation dips occasionally, but if your client—who once loved coming to sessions—now dreads them or seems disengaged, it could be a red flag or a potential sign of overtraining. Mental burnout is just as significant as physical fatigue and can severely impact your client’s overall well-being.
Reignite their enthusiasm with fun variations, recovery-based activities, or even a short break from intense workouts.
Reaching a plateau earlier than expected
Plateaus happen naturally over time, but if a client seems to hit one prematurely, it may be due to overtraining. Their body could be struggling to recover and adapt, stalling their progress.
Reevaluate their program design, ensuring it includes proper periodisation and recovery strategies to avoid long-term stagnation.
Loss of appetite
A reduced appetite might seem unrelated to workouts, but it’s a significant indicator of overtraining. The stress on their body can suppress hunger signals, leading to poor nutrition—a vicious cycle that can worsen recovery and performance.
Monitor their eating habits and discuss strategies to improve their nutrition intake, emphasising the importance of fueling their body for recovery.
One symptom that our clients may face from time-to-time, especially during their first few days of training/entering a new phase will be DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). Expected, right? Only in moderation. If it is super intense, or constantly happening, make sure that you adjust your client’s program accordingly.
How to prevent overtraining
Overtraining doesn’t mean your clients should pull back completely and stop training. Instead, it’s a cue to make minor adjustments to specific variables within their program to ensure they’re recovering effectively and still making progress.
Adjust training variables
Training intensity, volume, frequency, and duration are the key variables that can be modified to account for a greater need for rest. By decreasing one or more of these elements when your client shows signs of overtraining, you can help reduce stress on their body while maintaining consistency in their routine.
For example:
- If your client is fatigued, lower their training intensity by reducing weights or swapping high-impact exercises for lower-impact options.
- If performance is declining, consider decreasing session frequency or shortening the workout duration to allow for better recovery.
- These small adjustments can make a big difference in balancing effort and recovery without completely derailing your client’s training.
Recovery strategies
Incorporating recovery-focused tactics into your client’s program is another essential step. Deload weeks, active recovery days, and prioritising sleep and proper nutrition all help prevent overtraining symptoms.
Recovery is as much a part of progress as the workouts themselves, so ensure your clients understand the importance of rest and repair.
Progressive overload: The foundation for growth
A well-structured training plan that includes progressive overload is a proven way to avoid the pitfalls of overtraining while maximising results. Progressive overload involves gradually increasing training demands over time by modifying weight, reps, sets, or intensity.
Without progressive overload, it’s nearly impossible for clients to continue getting stronger, leaner, or more muscular.
However, the increases need to be gradual to avoid overwhelming the body. A good rule of thumb is to increase weekly training volume by no more than 10%, though this should always be tailored to the individual’s current fitness level and recovery capacity.
By carefully managing training intensity, prioritising recovery, and applying progressive overload intelligently, you can keep your clients on a sustainable path toward their goals while avoiding the risks of overtraining.
Can I continuously program progressive overload?
In short, yes. But not without ‘deload’ weeks or ‘recovery’ weeks, as some may refer to them as. A deload is such a strong tool to add to your arsenal.
Not only does it allow your client to continue training, just at a lower intensity, but it also enables them to recover from their previous training phase. Setting them up perfectly for what’s ahead.
So what is a ‘deload’ week? A deload is a structured period where your client continues training but at a reduced intensity, volume, or both.
Rather than halting progress, a deload week serves as a recalibration point, allowing the body to recover from the demands of the previous training phase. This ensures your client remains fresh, reduces the risk of overtraining, and lays the groundwork for the next stage of their program.
How to program a deload week
A deload doesn’t mean your client stops training altogether. Instead, aim to reduce the training load by around 30-50% in intensity, volume, or both.
Progressive overload with deload weeks
By cycling periods of progressive overload with planned deloads, you create a sustainable path for continued progress. This method ensures your client remains on track for their fitness goals without hitting performance plateaus or risking injury.
A well-implemented deload week doesn’t halt their momentum — it sets them up perfectly for the challenges ahead.
Including deload weeks in your programming is a simple yet effective way to improve results while safeguarding your clients’ long-term health and performance.
Can My PT Hub help me to prevent overtraining amongst my clients?
Absolutely. My PT Hub’s Programs feature, for example, enables coaches to create multi-week progressive programs that scale with performance, all while tracking their performance through your app.
Need to give your client a rest-day or program a deload week before your next overload?
Programs can easily be adjusted on the fly to optimise client performance whilst preventing overtraining or injury.
Want to easily get your clients’ feedback on their programs to ensure that they’re not at risk of overtraining?
Clients will be prompted for feedback after every workout to gauge their strain levels, helping you to understand how they’re feeling and encouraging clients to listen to their bodies to prevent overtraining.
Want to learn more? Sign up to your 30-day free trial of My PT Hub today to level-up your programming and maximise client engagement.