Overtraining
What is overtraining?
Overtraining occurs when an athlete does not adequately recover after repetitive intense training. Recovery in this instance means properly refueling their body with healthy foods, rehydrating lost fluids and electrolytes, getting adequate sleep, and allowing for days of rest or low-intensity training days planned around intense training days.
Athletes often believe that “more is better” when it comes to training for their sport and working out to achieve their fitness goals. However, this is not the case! Too much training without adequate time to recover can slow down progress and may lead to a decline in performance.
Early on, athletes will experience “overreaching” which is when an athlete may feel more sore than usual or may feel run down from training intensely for several consecutive days without rest. Luckily, this can be quickly reversed when the athlete takes some time off and rests their body.
If an athlete chooses to ignore the signs of overreaching and continues to train, then overtraining can occur. At this point, many athletes will believe that their fatigue or decreases in performance are signals that they need to train even harder! However, this only causes further breakdown in the body. Full recovery from overtraining can require taking weeks or months off from training - which can be very difficult for athletes who have a constant drive to train.
What are the signs and symptoms of overtraining?
Overtraining can be difficult to spot because it is natural to feel fatigued and challenged by training sessions. Below are some signs and symptoms that you may be overtraining:
Unusual muscle soreness after a workout that continues during future training sessions
Feeling like your legs are “heavy” even when exercising at low intensities
Plateaus in performance or a decline in performance (race times, strength, etc)
Poor quality sleep
Lack of energy throughout the day
Decreased motivation to train
Mood swings/irritability
Irregular menstrual cycles or missing periods
Getting sick often
Weight loss/appetite loss
Constipation/diarrhea
Recovering from Overtraining
If you feel you are overtraining - rest, nutrition, and mental health will play critical roles in your recovery.
Some athletes may need to stop training temporality or cut back on training frequency and intensity. Sometimes this means missing upcoming competitions/games. This can be very challenging from a mental health standpoint as it is not easy for highly driven and competitive athletes to take time off. Once cleared by a doctor, the athlete can gradually return to training. Trying to get back into full training too quickly can slow down the recovery process.
Athletes experiencing overtraining should also speak with a registered dietitian to assess their fueling habits. Oftentimes, these athletes are severely underfueling their bodies and need professional guidance on how to correct any gaps in their fueling plan.