10 signs your workout is actually hurting you

Gym buffs might love to say "no pain, no gain" but this is actually one of the most dangerous fitness myths out there. If you are experiencing any sort of workout pains, whether they're sharp, dull, or otherwise exacerbated by your physical activity, you need to stop before you further injure yourself.

Dr. Jasmine Marcus, a New York-based physical therapist, told INSIDER why pain during your workouts is a recipe for disaster.

"If you are in pain during a workout, that is a sign that you should stop what you are doing," she explained. "Pain is your body's way of protecting you and it most likely means you are injuring yourself."

If the pain is localized to one body part, and you're able to finish a workout, Dr. Marcus said you can continue working out … as long as you're sure to seek medical treatment for whatever it is that is bothering you.

"If you can find something else to do in the gym that is not painful, however, you can keep working out. This may mean adjusting your form to avoid pain - for example stopping your knees from caving in while squatting - or skipping a body part altogether," she said.

"For example, if your shoulder is bothering you, you should avoid irritating it further with shoulder presses, but there's no reason you can't keep working out your lower body. Just make sure to eventually seek out treatment for your shoulder," she added.

Still, you should always listen to your body, because toughing it out through an injury could end up sidelining you longer than if you'd just given your body a chance to heal properly. If your pain is sharp, stabbing, or severe, or if you experience swelling, bruising, or any sort of open wound, seek medical assistance ASAP.

When it comes to working out, you might think just showing up earns you a gold star. Wrong. Unfortunately, if you find yourself absolutely dreading your workouts or push yourself through an activity you hate, there's a good chance you're exercising too much, which is a surefire way to set yourself up for injury.

As Dr. Marcus told INSIDER, "If you hate working out, there's no way you're going to stick to a consistent exercise routine. You need to find a workout that you actually enjoy."

And the good news is, there's no shortage of options out there, especially now with a wide variety of workout apps and fitness videos online to help guide you towards the routine of your dreams.

Dr. Marcus advises that you "try finding an exercise video or working out with a friend - anything to change up your routine and make it fun. You may hate going to the gym and trying to figure out how to lift weights, but you may realize you love taking a strength training class. Or you may hate running, but realize that riding a bike is way more fun. The best workout is the one you'll stick with."

Even if you've found a routine that you love, you simply can't work out every single day. Even professional athletes take regular rest days, so be sure to set realistic expectations for your workouts. Overtraining is the quickest way to guarantee an injury, because you're never giving your muscles a chance to repair and heal.

If you're experiencing dizziness or feeling weak or malaised, that's not a good sign. Mitchell Starkman, a sports and orthopedic physical therapist at The Movement Centre, Canada, told INSIDER that if you're woozy during a workout there's probably a good explanation.

"If you're consistently getting dizzy while working out, it's always a good idea to follow-up with your doctor first," he said, "That being said, many people become temporarily dizzy while training during position changes. For example, if you are doing an exercise that requires you to use a lot of internal pressure to stabilize your spine and move a lot of weight (like squats or deadlifts), it's common to feel a little light-headed or 'woozy' right afterward. The other common way this happens is getting up quickly from completing some floor exercises (like ab work)."

"The reason for both of these phenomena is simply your body attempting to balance the pressures in the body," he said. "In the example of moving a lot of body weight, or getting up too quickly from the floor, the body's pressure drastically changes. That means that as the body and heart are quickly trying to adapt to resist one type of pressure to another. This can lead to a momentary lapse of blood flow to the brain and hence, you can feel dizzy."

Another reason for dizziness? Your eating habits. Every person's dietary needs vary, but if you're frequently working out on an empty stomach, you might feel unwell, Starkman told INSIDER.

Consistent exercise is a surefire way of boosting your immune system, so one benefit might be that you get sick less or you're better able to ward off the illnesses you do catch. However, over-training can definitely backfire, causing you to get sick more often, according to a study by the Department of Orthopedics, Division of Pediatric Orthopaedics, Massachusetts General Hospital.

"Exercise is an amazing thing and it when done consistently actually boosts our immune system over time," Starkman told INSIDER. "That being said, when [training is too intense], after our workouts the body's immunity actually slightly drops for a few hours, making us more susceptible to sickness."

He said, "if you find yourself consistently getting sick, you may want to rethink your training regime to be sure you are leaving enough time for rest," advising that you should also be sure to "eat the right things pre and post-workout to fuel your recovery."

Dr. Chelsea Axe, DC, CSCS and fitness expert at DrAxe.com agreed, adding, "a weaker immune system is one of the first signs you're working out too much. We now know that overtraining suppresses immune function and promotes upper respiratory infections. This is a side effect of training too often without rest, but it may also occur after a single bout of excessive exercise."

Another scary sign you might be over-training? Those restless nights. In fact, exercise is thought to benefit the quality of sleep, especially when you're doing it first thing in the morning, according to The Sleep Foundation. But if you're lying awake at night tossing and turning, it means you might be overtraining.

As Dr. Axe told INSIDER, "Insomnia is a sign that your sympathetic nervous system is not functioning healthily and is directly linked to exercising too much. An overactive sympathetic nervous system and trouble sleeping are more closely linked to anaerobic activities like sprinting and especially heavy resistance training like weight lifting.

"Since the sympathetic nervous system is tied to your body's fight or flight response, it's easy to see that when things get out of balance in this department, insomnia could be an issue," she added.

As for how you can prevent workout-induced insomnia? Aside from working out earlier in the day, you can also scale back on workout frequency and intensity, which means you might want to chill on those high-intensity cardio or strength training sessions.

And getting enough rest is crucial. Dr. Axe said, "exercisers with signs of an overactive sympathetic nervous system could [also] benefit from regular meditation, gentle yoga, and massage."

Conversely, if you find yourself feeling tired all the time or leave the gym feeling exhausted instead of energized, you might need to scale it back.

Megan Ostler, a registered dietitian with iFit, told INSIDER what might be going on here. "Sore muscles are common with a new routine, but excessive fatigue is not. If you are getting adequate sleep and are still super tired, there [might be] a couple of reasons. First, if you are female especially, it might be iron deficiency anemia."

She explains that iron helps "transport oxygen through the bloodstream to our muscles," adding, "when we are deficient, we can't transport as much oxygen, and without enough oxygen, our muscles and organs can't perform the way they should, including converting nutrients to energy." And what does that mean for our bodies? "Low energy production means low energy for us," which is not good, especially if you continue your workouts.

"Another common reason [for fatigue] is that you aren't eating enough calories. If you aren't fueling your body well you can't perform well ... Our bodies work hard to make sure we don't die from starvation, so when our food intake decreases or exercise increases, our bodies [must learn how to] adapt," Ostler added. We get more tired and [might] move less, thus expending less calories" in order to make up the difference, so to speak.

Although it's true that you might find yourself hungrier than usual as your body adapts to a new fitness routine, suddenly finding that you're never hungry should set off some alarm bells. "Many athletes assume that they can just follow their hunger cues to know how much to eat," Ostler told INSIDER. "However that isn't always the case. If you are working out at a high level your appetite might actually be suppressed. In experimental trials, dieting increased hunger, but the same energy deficit from exercise did not."

Physical activity is innately linked to your moods, and regular exercise is great for your mental health. When we sweat, our body releases endorphins, the feel-good hormones that contribute to our feeling more relaxed and better able to handle stress. But on the flip side, too much exercise can actually cause the reverse, leading to spiked levels of anxiety or depression, according to Dr. Axe.

"We know that too much heavy resistance training without adequate rest can lead to an overactive sympathetic nervous system," Dr. Axe said. "On the flip side, too much aerobic activity can lead to parasympathetic overtraining. Symptoms of this include fatigue, depression, and impaired sports performance."

"Overtrained athletes can also suffer from adrenal dysfunction, in addition to mood disorders exacerbated by excessive cortisol levels in the body," she added. "A 2013 study found overtrained individuals face an increased risk of depression symptoms and suicidal behaviors."

If you're experiencing mood changes, this could be another sign that you're overdoing things in the gym. You'll want to scale back your workouts, perhaps even taking a rest break from exercising altogether.

If you've got a racing heart long after you've slipped off your gym clothes, you might be overdoing it.

"If you're new to exercise, variation in resting heart rate is expected as your body gets into better shape," Dr. Ace told us. "But for seasoned exercisers, heart rate variability may be an easy way to pick up on early signs of overtraining."

Muscle soreness is common in the days after a particularly strenuous workout, but it shouldn't totally sideline you, and it should go away relatively quickly. But if your muscles are constantly sore and achy, you might be overtraining.

According to Emily Paskins, a trainer at iFit, there's a pretty straightforward reason why: "In extremely simple terms, when you work out, you cause small micro-tears to your muscles. This breakdown is then built over, which causes muscle growth. However, if you are constantly 'tearing' the muscles down without allowing adequate time for them to rebuild, you will begin to cause a state of constant wear and soreness," which is the exact opposite effect you're likely going for if you're looking to strengthen and tone.

"If you are sore all the time, and aren't making the progress that you want, it might be your diet," Ostler told INSIDER. "For muscles to recover, we need to refuel and rebuild, which requires more than just protein. Many people forget about carbohydrates post-workout, but our muscles need carbs to refuel their energy (glycogen stores) as well as protein to rebuild the 'damaged' tissue," so you'll want to eat meals and snacks before and after your workout that include a healthy mix of protein, carbs, and fats, to keep your body fueled and energized instead of achy, fatigued, and exhausted.

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