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 such as running may be addictive. This dependence is thought to be due to natural endorphins generated by the exercise.^[1] Fitness fanatics may be obsessed with fitness and so overexercise, possibly resulting in injury.^[2] Males aged about 40 may become neurotic about fitness — a manifestation of the Peter Pan syndrome.^[3] When compared to others of the same age, they are found to have less history of neurotic behavior and to be more extroverted. The prognosis for such individuals is poor.^[4]

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^[5]
• 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
• Erectile dysfunction (ED)^{[citation needed]}

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.^[6][7]

Famous people dubbed fitness fanatics or addicts

Lord Byron is said to have been the first modern fitness fanatic, as he was much concerned with his diet, exercise and appearance.^[8] Several US Presidents have been fitness enthusiasts, starting with Theodore Roosevelt, who started a vigorous exercise program after being a sickly youth.^[9] Strongman Paddy Doyle has been titled a "fitness fanatic" by the Guiness Book of World Records. He set his fitness fanatic-worthy record on April 10, 1994 for performing 429 one-arm push-ups, 400 squat thrusts, 323 burpees, and 592 alternative squat thrusts in 15 minutes.^[10] Cartoon character Snoopy has been drawn as "the fitness fanatic" in Charles Monroe Schulz's 128 page illustrated feature Snoopy features as the Fitness Fanatic ^[11] Professional golfer Gary Player became a fitness fanatic in order to compensate for his lack of stature.^[12] Sufficient evidence exists regarding Baseball Hall of Famer Honus Wagner for baseball historian Bill James to conclude that this early 20th century athlete was in fact a fitness addict, though rarely mentioned in biographical sketches.^[13]

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. ^ Carolyn Quadrio (1982), "The Peter Pan and Wendy Syndrome", Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 16 (2): 23–28 
4. ^ J.C.Little (March 1979), "Neurotic illness in fitness fanatics.", Psychiatric Annals 9(3): 49-56. 
5. ^ http://bmb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/48/3/518
6. ^ 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. 
7. ^ Testosterone Nation - The "Imperfect" Training Program. by Keats Snideman. Article
8. ^ PJ Corfield (2004), George Washington's False Teeth: An Unconventional Guide to the Eighteenth Century, History Today 
9. ^ James C. Humes, Which president killed a man?, p. 185, http://books.google.com/books?id=pydpqviIcnQC 
10. ^ Guinness World Records 2008‎. Guinness World Records, 2007. ISBN 1904994199. p.78
11. ^ Snoopy features as the fitness fanatic. Author Charles Monroe Schulz. Edition 13. Ravette, 2000. ISBN 1841610291.
12. ^ The Wicked Game Howard Sounes. HarperCollins, 2004. ISBN 0060513861. p. 75.
13. ^ The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. Bill James. Simon and Schuster, 2003. ISBN 0743227220 p.582.

External links

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