Overtraining

In this article we are going to be talking about something that affects almost every athlete at some stage or other, overtraining syndrome. Overtraining is something that many athletes choose to ignore but it can be one of the major factors in determining your long term success and ability to perform at a high level. Overtraining is a very common problem for people involved in weight training, but it can also happen to experienced athletes in any sport. It is only in recent years that we have really begun to hear more about the effects of overtraining in athletes. Overtraining can sometimes be so serious that an athlete is forced to retire from his or her sport and can take months to recover from.

As athletes and bodybuilders it is easy to get caught up in a more is better attitude to fitness training. The problem is that after an intense weight lifting or exercise session the body needs time to rest and recover. It is only during the recovery period that your muscles start to repair themselves and become stronger. If you do not leave enough time for your body to recover from the stress of exercise you may actually find yourself becoming weaker. It is at this stage, when the volume of exercise exceeds your body’s ability to recover, that you start to find that exercise is actually making you weaker and affecting your performance.

Overtraining can range from just having a small affect on your performance to a complete mental breakdown and the need to take months off in order to recover. Some athletes may refer to overtraining as “burnout” and one of the first signs of overtraining is a feeling of tiredness, mood change and a drop in performance.

There are many factors which can contribute to the onset of overtraining syndrome such as overwork, stress, lack of sleep, poor nutrition etcetera. It is a very common problem for bodybuilders who exercise at a high intensity level whilst dieting. A big factor in preventing overtraining is making sure that your body has enough calories to properly repair itself. Overtraining often creeps up slowly and leads to progressively increased levels of fatigue and a gradual decline in performance.

Many bodybuilders will have heard of Mike Mentzer who had very strong opinions on overtraining and suggested bodybuilders at the top levels needed as much as two to three weeks rest between training sessions to fully recover.

Here is Mike Mentzer’s explanation of overtraining:

“In bodybuilding, the idea is to impose a training stress onto the body that will serve to induce the biochemical changes which result in muscular hypertrophy. Applying any more of the training stress (high-intensity) than is required by nature will result in the equivalent of over-dosing on a medicine; or, as we say typically in bodybuilding - overtraining.

A person exposed to the sun’s ultraviolet rays at the equator in summer would not have the slightest concern whether the intensity of the sunlight stress is high enough to disturb the physiology sufficiently to induce an adaptive response, i.e., the buildup of a suntan. His only concern, his overriding consideration, would be to properly regulate the volume (or duration) and frequency of exposure time so as not to overdose on the stress/stimulus; and, thereby, incur a sunburn or, in extreme cases, death. A person seeking to develop a suntan at the equator, or wherever the intensity of the sunlight is high has no concern that he will develop a suntan; but only if he doesn’t overexpose. (Note that bodybuilding science is largely based on the medical discipline of stress physiology. Also, that the end result of the healing of a sunburn is not a suntan, just as the end result of the healing of overtraining is not greater strength or added muscle.)
As the stresses grow progressively greater, they will eventually reach a critical point such that they constitute overtraining. The first symptom will be a slow down in progress; and if the individual continues with the same volume and frequency protocol, the stresses will continue to increase until there is a complete cessation of progress, typically referred to as a “sticking point.” One need not ever experience a slow down in progress, let alone a sticking point, if he bears in mind all the while that as the weights grow progressively greater so do the stresses; and he must do certain specific things to compensate for them.”

Symptoms Of Overtraining

Symptoms of overtraining can range from mild to very serious. The most common symptom of overtraining is fatigue. From personal experience one of the first signs of overtraining for me can be a sharp decline in motivation and severe mood changes. If you are feeling constantly tired or irritable, this is usually another good indicator that you are exercising at a rate that is exceeding your body’s ability to recover. Other common symptoms are having trouble sleeping, becoming depressed or losing enthusiasm for the sport you are involved in.

Common Overtraining Symptoms

More frequent illness
Persistent muscle soreness (Delayed onset muscle soreness)
Persistent fatigue
Elevated resting heart rate
Increased susceptibility to infections
More frequent injuries
Irritability
Depression
Loss of motivation
Insomnia
Altered sleep patterns
Decreased appetite
Decreased libido
Weight loss
Breakdown
Decreased sports performance
Lack of concentration

Overtraining Treatment

If you feel like you are suffering from the symptoms of overtraining then the best thing you can do is to take a week off from training and rest. Although some athletes, bodybuilders in particular, find it mentally tough to stay out of the gym, it is often the best thing you can do. Most athletes should plan to take a full week off training every three months to allow the body adequate recovery time. After a full weeks rest and recovery you will probably find that you are much stronger and more motivated than ever before. In other words resting will actually make you stronger and improve your performance. The amount of rest you need will depend on the severity of the overtraining and some people may need more than a week to properly recover. By making sure you schedule a rest week into your training program every three months, you can avoid getting seriously over trained.

Cures For Overtraining

Get more rest
More sleep
Take a full week off from all training
Eat plenty of healthy food and increase your calorie intake

There are two different types of overtraining, parasympathetic and sympathetic. Parasympathetic overtraining is more common in endurance sports while sympathetic is more common in sprint type sports and power athletes. During sympathetic overtraining Catecholamine hormones are released, which cause an increase in heart rate and breathing, constricting blood vessels Parasympathetic overtraining decreases the heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature. Sympathetic overtraining is generally more common in weightlifters while Parasympathetic overtraining is more common in cardiovascular athletes.

The best cure for overtraining is always prevention and this can be done by simply taking a week off from training every few months. In order to recover from a period of overtraining you should make sure you get more sleep and take in more healthy calories than usual. Evidence suggests that reducing the volume of your training for up to 21 days will have little impact on your performance and so you should not be afraid to rest if you feel like you are becoming overtraining.

The best advice I can give to anyone that things they are not making any more progress in the gym or in any sport is to take a full week off from exercising to allow your body time to recover. Exercise places far more stress on the body and the nervous system that people realize. You grow stronger when resting, not when you work out and if you do not give your body enough time to recover you will never reach your true potential. When it comes to training, more is not always better.