Last week I hit a wall. I felt completely flat, cranky with everyone, and started doubting decisions I'd made with clarity just days before. I looked at my to-do list and felt nothing but resistance. I just wanted to retreat.

I know these signs now. This is what overtraining looks like.

The Overtraining Framework

Athletes understand something critical: you can push too hard for too long, and performance actually declines. Your body doesn't get stronger—it breaks down. This is called overtraining syndrome, and it has recognizable markers: declining performance despite continued effort, persistent fatigue, mood disturbances, loss of motivation, increased injury risk.

Rest isn't optional in athletic training—it's when adaptation and growth happen. It's called "active recovery," and serious athletes know that ignoring the early warning signs leads to injury, not achievement.

We understand this for physical performance. But we resist applying it to mental and emotional performance, especially during peri- and post-menopause when our systems are already under significant load.

Early Warning Signs You're Overtrained

Based on both research and clinical observation, here's what mental and emotional overtraining looks like:

Loss of motivation for things you normally value. You stop looking forward to activities that usually energize you. Your to-do list feels overwhelming rather than engaging.

Increased irritability and shortened patience. You're cranky with people you care about. Small annoyances feel disproportionately frustrating. You notice you're snapping more.

Doubting clear decisions. You second-guess choices you made with confidence days or weeks ago. Your internal decision-making feels shaky.

Desire to withdraw or retreat. You don't want to engage with people, even ones you typically enjoy. Social interaction feels effortful.

Flat affect or emotional numbness. You're not necessarily depressed, but you're not feeling much of anything. Everything feels muted.

Sleep disruption with a "wired-tired" quality. You're exhausted but can't settle. Your nervous system feels activated even when you're trying to rest.

Decreased cognitive sharpness. You're reading the same paragraph three times. Your mental processing feels slower than usual.

If you're recognizing multiple signs, you're likely overtrained.

When I recognized these signs in myself last week, I did something that felt uncomfortable: I cleared my weekend and prioritized rest. I slept, read, wrote, did what I felt like doing and almost nothing on my to-do list. I came into this week with more energy and more realistic expectations of what I could actually sustain.

Why Perimenopause Increases Vulnerability

During perimenopause and post menopause, your system is already managing hormonal fluctuations, metabolic shifts, and often peak career and family responsibilities simultaneously. Research shows chronic stress elevates cortisol, which disrupts hormone balance, which amplifies stress responsivity—creating an intensifying cycle.

You're essentially training for a marathon while your body is managing a major physiological transition. The threshold for overtraining is lower, and the recovery time needed is greater.

This isn't weakness. It's physiology.

Recognition Is the First Step

Athletes who ignore overtraining signs end up injured and sidelined. The smart ones recognize the early warnings and adjust before reaching breakdown.

The same applies to mental and emotional overtraining during perimenopause. Recognition gives you the opportunity to work WITH your body's signals rather than pushing through until you crash.

What recovery looks like varies by person—some need solitude, others need connection, many need time in nature. But the first step is recognizing when you've crossed from productive stress into overtraining territory.

Your body isn't broken because it has limits. It's giving you information worth listening to.

If you're recognizing these overtraining signs in yourself, you're not alone—and you're not failing. You're managing perimenopause at a life stage when responsibilities are at their peak. The Reclaim program is designed specifically for this: learning to recognize your body's signals, understanding what active recovery looks like during perimenopause, and developing strategies that work WITH your hormonal reality rather than against it.

Join the waitlist here to receive enrolment details in early February, including early bird pricing.

Stay happy and healthy!

Erika.

-Chinese Proverb