Overtraining: When Pushing Hard Is Harmful

Written by Administrator Wednesday, 11 November 2009 18:04

Signs to watch for, from fatigue to depression.

By Howard LeWine, M.D.,

With so much emphasis placed on increasing physical activity, we hear very little about overtraining. For competitive athletes and some recreational athletes, however, overtraining can be a serious problem.

The definition of overtraining is personal. It is the point at which an athlete is training so hard and for so many hours that recovery does not occur with usual periods of rest. Athletic performance demands a balance of extreme effort and recovery. The athlete must expend a tremendous amount of energy on some days and also determine an adequate, but not excessive, number of days off, to be spent either resting completely or exercising with less intensity.

Many recreational and competitive athletes tend to think that more exercise and effort is always better. Even if they are aware of the facts, the tendency is to want to exert themselves a little longer and little harder during the next workout.

I have experienced this myself. I am not an athlete and I do not compete in any events. I exercise almost every day, mostly because I feel good while doing it and really miss it when I go more than one day without working out. Recently I started pushing my heart rate toward my maximum on too many consecutive days. Instead of feeling energized, I started experiencing fatigue after the workouts and also later in the day.

Symptoms of overtraining

Fatigue is one of the earliest symptoms of overtraining. Some experts call the earliest symptoms, those that resolve quickly if you just decrease the workout intensity on every third or fourth day, overreaching rather than overtraining.

If you continue overreaching without recovery, you may experience some of these symptoms of overtraining:

• Tension
• Irritability
• Decreased appetite
• Restless sleep
• Loss of sexual desire
• More aches and pains
• Declining athletic performance

In the more severe form of the overtraining syndrome, the following can occur:

• Depression
• Menstrual irregularities in women
• More significant sleep problems
• Prolonged muscle soreness

Markedly diminished athletic performance

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of overtraining is based upon symptoms. Although changes in heart rate and blood pressure can occur, these changes do not consistently follow a pattern that confirms or negates the diagnosis.

Muscle strength may be diminished for the individual; however, this cannot be detected on exam because most athletes have attained much greater strength than what is considered normal. Even a significant loss in strength would be rated as normal strength by a physician. In addition, although some blood tests can become abnormal in severe overtraining syndrome, no one test is reliable enough to be used as a diagnostic marker.