Overtraining

Overtraining is a physical, behavioral and emotional condition that 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.

Addiction

Physical exercise may be addictive. One theory is that this addiction is due to natural endorphins generated by the exercise.^[1] Whether strictly due to this chemical by-product or not, some people can be said to become addicted to or fixated on psychological/physical effects of physical exercise and fitness. This may lead to overexercise, resulting in the "overtraining" syndrome.^[2]

Physiology

Improvements in strength and fitness occur only during the rest period following hard training (see supercompensation). This process takes at least 12 to 24 hours to complete. If sufficient rest is not available then complete regeneration cannot occur. If this imbalance between excess training and inadequate rest persists then the individual's performance will eventually plateau and decline. Mild over training may require several days of rest or reduced activity to fully restore an athlete's fitness. If prompt attention is not given to the developing state, and an athlete continues to train and accumulate fatigue, the condition may come to persist for many weeks or even months.^{[citation needed]}

Overtraining occurs more readily if the individual is simultaneously exposed to other physical and psychological stressors, such as jet lag, ongoing illness, overwork, menstruation, poor nutrition etc. It is a particular problem for bodybuilders and other dieters who engage in intense exercise while limiting their food intake.

A number of possible mechanisms for overtraining have been proposed:

• Microtrauma to the muscles are created faster than the body can heal them.
• Amino acids are used up faster than they are supplied in the diet. This is sometimes called "protein deficiency".
• The body becomes calorie-deficient and the rate of break down of muscle tissue increases.
• Levels of cortisol (the "stress" hormone) are elevated for long periods of time.
• The body spends more time in a catabolic state than an anabolic state (perhaps as a result of elevated cortisol levels).
• Excessive strain to the nervous system during training.

Other symptoms

Overtraining may be accompanied by one or more organs concomitant symptoms:

• Lymphocytopenia^[3]
• Persistent muscle soreness (Delayed onset muscle soreness)
• Persistent fatigue
• Elevated resting heart rate
• Reduced heart rate variability
• Increased susceptibility to infections
• Increased incidence of injuries
• Irritability
• Depression
• Breakdown

Treatment

Allowing more time for the body to recover:

• Taking a break from training to allow time for recovery.
• Reducing the volume and/or the intensity of the training.
• Suitable periodization of training.
• Splitting the training program so that different sets of muscles are worked on different days.
• Increase sleep time.

Changing diet:

• Ensuring that calorie intake at least matches expenditure.
• Ensuring total calories are from a suitable macronutrient ratio.
• Addressing vitamin deficiencies with nutritional supplements.

Spa treatments^{[citation needed]}:

• Deep-tissue or sports massage of the affected muscles.
• Self-massage or rub down of the affected muscles.
• Cryotherapy and thermotherapy.
• Temperature contrast therapy (contrast showers etc).

Planned overtraining

Overtraining can be used advantageously, as when a bodybuilder is purposely overtrained for a brief period of time to supercompensate during a regeneration phase. These are known as "shock micro-cycles" and were a key training technique used by Soviet athletes.^[4][5]

See also

• Physical fitness
• National Academy of Sports Medicine
• Personal Trainer
• Supercompensation
• Social influences on fitness behavior
• Sports psychology

References

1. ^ Jeremy Adams, Robert J. Kirkby (1998), "Exercise dependence: A review of its manifestation, theory and measurement", Research in Sports Medicine 8 (3): 265–276 
2. ^ Dave R. Baldwin, Exercise Motivational Triggers, p. 53, http://books.google.com/books?id=YnoEdRqG_nQC&pg=PA53 
3. ^ http://bmb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/48/3/518
4. ^ Smith DJ (2003). "A framework for understanding the training process leading to elite performance". Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) 33 (15): 1103–26. doi:10.2165/00007256-200333150-00003. PMID 14719980. 
5. ^ Testosterone Nation - The "Imperfect" Training Program. by Keats Snideman. Article

External links

• A good summary of overtraining (Academic) with studies cited