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    Overtraining: Understanding the Causes, Effects, and Prevention Home / Blog / Overtraining: Understanding the Causes, Effects, and Prevention
    Posted by Osteopath, 07 Jul 2023
    Blog
    Avoiding Overtraining: How to Balance Training and Recovery for Peak Performance
    In the pursuit of fitness and athletic performance, finding the right balance between training and recovery is essential. Increasing your training load—when done carefully and with enough rest—can boost your strength, speed, endurance, and overall performance. However, pushing too hard without proper rest can lead to overtraining or overreaching (the stage before overtraining). This can slow your progress and harm both your physical and mental health. In this blog, we’ll explore what overtraining is, its causes, warning signs, and how you can prevent it, based on the latest research.

    What Causes Overtraining?

    Understanding why overtraining happens is the first step to avoiding it. Recent studies highlight several key factors. Therefore, let’s break down the main causes:
    1. Training Volume and Intensity: Suddenly increasing how much or how hard you train can overwhelm your body. For example, research by Halson (2014) shows that gradually building up your training load helps prevent overtraining.
    2. Not Enough Recovery: Skipping rest days or getting poor sleep can lead to overtraining. In addition, a review by Meeusen et al. (2016) found that sleep deprivation harms both performance and recovery.
    3. Psychological Stress: Stress from work or personal life adds to physical stress. As a result, Purvis et al. (2018) found that managing mental stress is just as important as managing your workouts.

    Signs You Might Be Overtraining

    Overtraining affects both your body and mind. Consequently, it’s important to watch for these common symptoms:

    Declining Performance

    If you notice a drop in strength, endurance, or coordination, you could be overtraining. In fact, Hooper et al. (2017) found that athletes with overtraining symptoms often perform worse.

    Constant Fatigue

    Feeling tired all the time, even after rest, is a red flag. Overtraining can also disrupt your sleep, leading to even more fatigue. Furthermore, Budgett et al. (2012) noted that these symptoms are similar to chronic fatigue.

    More Injuries

    Overtraining can burn out your central nervous system and increase your risk of overuse injuries. For instance, Kipp et al. (2019) linked overtraining to a higher rate of injuries.

    Mood Changes

    Irritability, depression, anxiety, and trouble focusing are common with overtraining. Moreover, Schaal et al. (2019) highlighted the mental toll on athletes.

    Physical Issues

    Look for increased muscle soreness, weight loss, or frequent illness. Overtraining can also mimic other health conditions like asthma, anaemia, or thyroid problems. Therefore, if you experience these symptoms, it’s wise to consult a professional.

    How to Prevent Overtraining

    Taking steps to avoid overtraining helps you stay healthy and perform your best. Here’s how you can prevent it:

    Personalised Training Plans

    Tailor your workouts to your own needs. For best results, increase your training load slowly—no more than 10% every two weeks.

    Plan for Recovery

    Include rest and “easy weeks” in your schedule. Structured periodisation, or planned recovery phases, has been shown to reduce overreaching (Impellizzeri et al., 2019). Therefore, planning your rest is just as important as planning your workouts.

    Eat and Drink Well

    Good nutrition and hydration are vital for recovery. In addition, Heikura et al. (2018) found that proper macronutrient intake helps prevent overtraining.

    Monitor Your Progress

    Elite athletes often track physical and mental markers to spot early signs of overtraining. For example, Plews et al. (2017) recommend using objective measures to monitor fatigue.

    Final Thoughts

    Overtraining can harm your health and set back your progress. However, by understanding the causes and warning signs, and by following smart training and recovery strategies, you can stay on track for long-term success. If you think you might be overtraining, talk to a qualified professional to help adjust your program and support your recovery.
    References:

    Halson, S. L. (2014). Monitoring training load to understand fatigue in athletes. Sports Medicine, 44(2), 139-147.

    Meeusen, R., Duclos, M., Foster, C., Fry, A., Gleeson, M., Nieman, D. C., … & Urhausen, A. (2016). Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the overtraining syndrome: Joint consensus statement of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). European Journal of Sport Science, 16(1), 1-18.

    Purvis, D., Gonsalves, S., & Deuster, P. A. (2018). Physiological and psychological fatigue in extreme conditions: Overtraining and elite athletes. PM&R, 10(11), 1129-1139.

    Hooper, S. L., Mackinnon, L. T., & Gordon, R. D. (2017). Markers for monitoring overreaching and overtraining in athletes. Sports Medicine, 47(7), 1281-1298.

    Budgett, R., & Newsholme, E. A. (2012). Chronic fatigue syndrome: A synthesis of current evidence. Sports Medicine, 42(12), 871-881.

    Kipp, K., Johnson, R., Shupp, M., & Porcari, J. (2019). Overtraining syndrome in the athlete: Current clinical practice. Current Sports Medicine Reports, 18(6), 219-221.

    Schaal, K., Tafflet, M., Nassif, H., Thibault, V., Pichard, C., Alcotte, M., … & Toussaint, J. F. (2019). Psychological balance in high level athletes: Gender-based differences and sport-specific patterns. PloS One, 14(5), e0216976.

    Hitzschke, B., Ganshirt, F., Schultz, S., & Lauenroth, A. (2020). Individualised training plan in competitive swimming: Considerations for age group swimmers. Journal of Sports Sciences, 38(17), 1940-1948.

    Impellizzeri, F. M., Marcora, S. M., & Coutts, A. J. (2019). Internal and external training load: 15 years on. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 14(2), 270-273.

    Plews, D. J., Laursen, P. B., Kilding, A. E., & Buchheit, M. (2017). Heart-rate variability and training-intensity distribution in elite rowers. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 12(8), 1062-1067.

    Heikura,  A., Uusitalo, A. L., Stellingwerff, T., Bergland, D., Mero, A. A., & Burke, L. M. (2018). Low energy availability is difficult to assess but outcomes have large impact on bone injury rates in elite distance athletes. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 28

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