The lack of respect to overtraining...no pain, no gain right?

According to wikipedia, " Overtraining occurs when the volume and intensity of an individual's exercise exceeds their recovery capacity. They cease making progress, and can even begin to lose strength and fitness. Overtraining is a common problem in weight training, but it can also be experienced by runners and other athletes." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overtraining

After I started out a new weight training regimen after a long seditary lifestyle, I was going to the gym 5-6 days a week, almost 3 hours per day.  I was pretty much doing a full body routine.   

I mean, hey, I am young, I am drinking caffine before/after workout, I feel find.  No pain, no gain right?  

Then I began to feel irritable, and depress.  I started thinking, "after slugging out for so long, how come I am not losing weight, and becoming leaner!"  I was eating properly, six meals a day, meeting the carb and protein requirements, downing supplements like a can of coke.  

It just got worst.  Everything just bothered me to the point where I felt angry for no reason.   By this time, I should have said to myself "hey, something is wrong, I better back off a bit on my training."

Well, because of my hardheadness, and ego.  I refused to give up.   Muscle soreness became deep pain, my joints started to creak, and I started to lose sleep.  

It wasn't until I was sitting in my car, and saying "screw this, I quit, I am not going in anymore." My motivation at that point was at an all time low.  So I took the day off, went home and went to bed.  

I woke up the next day, and already I notice a difference psychologically, and physically.  I felt better.  So I took another day off, and all the pain went away, and I felt cheerful.

So that was my experience with overtraining but I was lucky because I could have suffered a severe injury by continuing it.  

So what are the typical signs of overtraining?

• irratability
  
• deep muscle soreness/sorness that will not go away
• lack of motivation
• lost of sleep
• angry for no reason
• depress
• alway tired no matter how much coffee or sleep you had
• elevated resting heart rate

These are just a few but the most common.  

So how do you know if you are about to overtrain?  Well, the best way to gauge it is when you wake up, you take your heart rate.  If it is above normal, then you should take another day of active recovery and/or avoiding the gym.  

The other way to find out if your muscle soreness is "deep" muscle soreness.  "Deep" muscle soreness is usually very painful and will not go away even after you warmed up.  An example: If it took you ten minutes to climb a 20 step stairs, then thats deep muscle soreness...