Does anyone know about overtraining?

Have you heard of Caroline Girvan, @overtrain ?
Look up her EPIC programmes on YouTube.
Most sessions are 45-60 minutes, but very intense.
Even if you use lighter weights, you'll be seriously tired.
Maybe couple it with power-walking and/or HIIT.
And/or a bit of yoga or meditation.
Maximum 2-3 hours a day, in total.
Plus at least one rest day a week.
Might this be more manageable and less exhausting?

You need recovery time, and you need calories. Even ballet dancers in full training take one full rest day a week.

You need to be careful: it sounds as though you have an eating disorder (excessive/addictive exercise can be part of that).

You're storing up trouble: the possibility of things like shin splints now, but more seriously osteoparosis [sp?] post-menopause. It's not fun, from what Ive seen of a female relative who has restricted eating all her life.

What sort of exercise are you doing? Women should do strength work - heavy weights (not the fairy weights of pump classes) as well as cardio, particularly as they get older. But not for 4 hours a day.

I find the gym is a retreat from a stressful job, and sometimes I think I"d spend all day there, just hanging out & playing about with the fun toys. But I don't because I have a job, and a life outside the gym. It's worth thinking about why you're retreating to the gym ...

A PT I follow on Instagram - not an "influencer" or similar rubbish - she's local to me, & used to train at my gym and is amazing - she recommends one full rest day per week, and one day of active recovery (eg a bike ride), and eating more than you think. And her body is a-may-zing - her strength and muscle are wonderful.

The indication I was overtraining was that my creatine kinase levels were high.
The blood test was done as part of my routine checks for an eating disorder.
When this one came back high I was advised to stop exercising for a week. They needed to rule out that it wasn't heart disease (of which elevated CK levels are a sign).
I stopped exercise for a week and the level went down.
Elevated CK levels meant I wasn't allowing my muscles to repair.

Exactly .

I think a new recipe book is a lovely idea - part of balance is to enjoy your refuelling!

And I will stop banging on about this but 8 hours of "exercise" isn't necessarily a lot - for some people it is their working day if they have a physical job. I do think it is hours of intense exercise that are the problem, for people that overtrain (who are not elite athletes).

My anaemia was nothing to do with my exercise regime. I had had heavy periods for years, with symptoms disguised because bringing up children, etc. GP said that was very common. You can only absorb so much iron from diet, if you need more, you need the pills and that should sort it.

Yes, I do agree with you about PE at schoo. But please don't worry - AFAIK, as long as no underlying reason other than the obvious ones, you will get it back! Build slowly and steadily, come back stronger, take some rest days .

Years of being healthy completely lost.

Ah, it's not all lost! It takes weeks to lose muscle. Your nutrition and rest was not sufficient for your needs and you were exercising a lot. 8 hours isn't necessarily easy to find. Once your iron levels are up you can ease back in but just limit it. Do some very gentle stuff as well as the cardio and more strenuous weights. Finding a balance is what's important. Exercise isn't bad but like anything it is possible to over do it. Just as food isn't bad but it is possible to eat too much. More isn't always better. If you like being busy perhaps a new hobby (but make sure you don't overdo that too). Setting a timetable for your day might be good to begin with. Maybe you could get more into cooking - work your way through a new recipe book.

My iron was ridiculously low about 3 years ago. I needed 3 times a day iron tablets from the GP, iron rich foods with every meal and I took medication to stop my periods for six months (which they thought was the cause). Plus no tea or coffee. I felt better within a few months but felt awful when it was low.

Once my levels were normal, I trained fine, and have felt fine ever since (was caused by heavy periods and I hardly have them any more!). I exercise a lot tho as I said below, it is a mixture of high intensity (max 1-1.5 hours a day) and low (walking, cycling, pilates etc) which can be hours but which I see as just being normally active, for me. The being cold was a real giveaway once I knew about it - I think these symptoms can creep up on you - GP said I would probably have been anaemic for years.

Aha! I wondered about that - the same thing happened to me a few years back. Pretty low count, had been building up. I was really careful about spacing the tablets, cutting right back on tea and coffee (tannins inhibit absorption) and spacing the cups I did have with the pills), citrus with meals and pills etc etc. Got levels back up pretty fast (GP was surprised). It is good to know what it is and it can be sorted!

Happy to help. Hope you get better soon.

Try not to worry. You might have just caught a virus as that can cause a raise in heart rate.

It's good you are tackling your exercise addiction. It might be worth investigating other ways of tackling stress so you can become less reliant on exercise.

4-8hours a day ? Serious question
, do you work ? Where do you find the time ? Personally the amount you are doing is a ridiculous amount, spread the 8 hours over the week and that’s enough. I get that you are too far into this now and can’t stop.
From the age of 23-27 I was a real gym bunny, there every morning before work and often squeezing in a lunch time or evening class. It was an addiction and no one could help me get out of it at the time. I’d be at the Gp all the time, feeling breathless, tired, literally seeing stars. B12 deficiency and needed injections. Funny I never had it before and never had it when I stopped the exercise. They never once told me I was doing too much. I also had to see physio about my hip, they said I’ve damaged it due to over use of the cycling motion. So now I’m 33, I go to the gym twice a week and I stil get pain in my hip which stops me doing more. Only you can help yourself. Good luck

I think it sounds like you have an eating disorder and maybe you ought to go back to your GP.

Bit confused how your heart rate is so high (resting heart rate??) of 70-80? If not, what's your RHR? for someone exercising that much who is not overweight I'd expect it to be 50-60.

Anyway -- yes sounds like over traingin and not enough rest and recovery. You are not eating enough to fuel those workouts. And you need to rest to allow body time to recover.

I'd consult with a PT who specifically has experience with eating disorders / over exercising.

You have an exercise addiction.

I'm saying this as someone who used exercise to manage stresses at work and was a former amateur athlete in a team sport where we were high ranking.

Some of the people on my team had highly stressful jobs and would try to exercise when they were injured/ill as a way to deal with the stress. Luckily we were surrounded by people specifically coaches and older team members who would put a stop to it.

You don't have this so you need not only a PT but probably a counselor. (Or you could take the drastic path and quit your job if you are in an industry area with a shortage.)

Also a GP won't be able to help you unless they are into exercise and sports themselves.