Let’s talk about overtraining.
In clinical and practical research, the definition of overtraining is quite convoluted.
In fact, there is no literary consensus on the exact definition of overtraining.
Neither is there for its underlying causes and symptoms, with some experts debating whether
it even exists at all.
But research data shows overtraining at least does exist, especially in the realm of competitive
sports.
Data shows anywhere between seven to thirty one percent of athletes experience overtraining
on a yearly basis.
It is important, though, to distinguish overtraining to overreaching.
Unlike overtraining, overreaching is actually desired.
At the beginning of a training program, you’ll experience a consistent performance and training
capacity improvement over time.
Eventually, performance capacity stagnates and then decrease, aka you start to functionally
overreach.
This is desired because once you begin taking recovery measures from overreaching, which
takes roughly 1 to 2 weeks to fully recover, your body not only reverses the performance
drop, but you actually end up improving well beyond past previous capacities.
This is known as supercompensation.
When you DO NOT rest and instead train through it, performance continues to wane.
Around 4 weeks of training past degradation, a few weeks of recovery is no longer enough
and supercompensation cease to exist.
This is the point where the literature agrees on defining the phase of overtraining.
Much of the literature also classifies overtraining as a syndrome, underlying the causes and symptoms
of overtraining are multifactorial in nature and is not solely just changes in training
and performance.
In terms of symptoms, along with impaired performance, an overtrained individual experience
a varying combinations of sleep disturbances, mood disturbances, fatigue, heavy sweating,
upper respiratory tract infections, and loss of appetite.
The commonality of these symptoms can make it tricky to actually diagnose overtraining.
I feel that this survey from the 2012 paper by Meeusen and colleagues provides a good
starting point in detecting overtraining for yourself since it touches on training duration,
factors commonly overlooked, and more.
Check it out in the link the in the description.
Again, causes vary as well.
Mental stress can be a cause, where athletes suffer disproportionately due to their chase
for perfection and competitive nature.
Poor workout programming, where the program far exceeds the individual’s fitness level.
Lack of quality sleep, which will affect all daily functions, especially physical activity.
And poor nutrition, where low protein intake can hinder recovery, low carb intake fails
to replenish glycogen stores, and not enough water leads to dehydration.
Chronic calorie deficits are also problematic due to overall lack of nutrition and energy.
As far as the training itself, research suggest that training VOLUME is the bigger culprit
than training intensity.
In several studies comparing the two factors at training levels above norm, sickness and
lowered immune cell count were strongly correlated to increased volume loads.
Do note that intensity can still cause overtraining as well.
But the magnitude of effect of each cause on the propensity to overtrain seems to vary
from person to person.
Something like mental stress might contribute heavily to overtraining vulnerability in one
person, while another person suffers mightily when lacking sleep.
And finally, what about dealing with overtraining?
The best way to deal with overtraining is to… prevent it from happening at all.
Regular rest is critical.
In a joint consensus statement between the European College of Sport Science and the
American College of Sports Medicine, they recommend at least one rest day per week.
Personally, I think taking at least two would be more fitting, especially for beginners
that require more time adapting to soreness and the change in lifestyle.
Dealing with mental stress is imperative, and using self-assessment mood logs, mind-body
therapies and building a strong social support system can be extremely beneficial.
If you want more details on dealing with mental stress, feel free to check out my video on
this very topic.
Sleep is definitely a big one.
Best case scenario is to get 7 to 9 hours of quality sleep.
This will be a balancing act though, since one of the symptoms of overtraining and overreaching
is a dip in sleep quality.
Again, got some videos on that as well if you want to check it out.
And, of course, there is deloading, where you dial back your workout intensity, volume,
or both to allow sufficient recovery.
Again times two, come check out my video on deloading if you want more info.
In the case where you do have the unfortunate experience of becoming overtrained, then the
best treatment is rest and very light exercise.
Bear in mind that it can take months or even years before things get better, but the key
is to not make it any worse and then prevent it from happening again.
Ultimately, a holistic recovery approach is best and something to consider at all times
for not just overtraining, but your entire well-being.
Personally, I think overtraining isn’t too big of a deal if you’re just the typical
gym-goer wanting to build some muscle, lose fat, and get a bit stronger.
The research heavily relies on athletes to show overtraining prevalence, especially endurance
and track athletes spending huge portions of their days training with high volume.
That’s not to say something like lifting weights is less taxing, but at the very least,
there’s more time for you to recover when you’re only lifting five to 8 hours a week
versus a competitive athlete’s 5 to 8 hours a day.
As long as you’re intuitive with your approach to training, then I’m willing to wager and
say that overtraining is almost…
a non-factor.
Overreaching, on the other hand, is a whole ‘notha story.
But that’s a topic for whole ‘notha day.
I want to thank the amazing people at sci-fit.net for providing the vast majority of the information
in this video.
Sci-fit.net is one of the few websites out there that I can confidently trust in delivering
accurate and non-bias fitness and nutrition information.
I highly suggest you check out their overtraining article if you want a more in-depth breakdown
than this video and they also make a great point for the need to change the name of overtraining
to something else.
I’ll link straight to the article in the description box.
While you’re on their website, go check out some of their other amazing articles as
well.
Let me know your thoughts on overtraining in the comments.
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and get your protein… and recovery.