overtrain

[ oh-ver-treyn ]

verb (used without object)

1. to exercise too hard or without sufficient recovery time, often causing injuries or a decline in performance:

   When you overtrain with weights, you are constantly tearing down your muscles and not allowing your body to catch up in repairing them.

verb (used with object)

1. to exercise (a muscle or muscles) too hard or without sufficient recovery time, often causing injuries or a decline in performance:

   Be careful not to overtrain individual muscle groups—rotating your workouts will help you avoid this.

2. to exercise or train (a person or animal) too much, too hard, or without sufficient recovery time:

   Keep the sessions short so that you don’t overtrain or overtire your dog.

Word History and Origins

Origin of overtrain¹

First recorded in 1790–1800; over- ( def ) + train ( def )