Overtraining is a physical, behavioral and emotional condition that occurs when the volume and intensity of your training program exceeds your recovery capabilities. Over-training causes the stoppage of progress, moreover, a decrease in strength and mass is possible. Over-training is one of the most common problems in bodybuilding, but sprinters and other athletes can also be affected. Over-training occurs more often in beginners who subject an untrained body to serious loads, as well as in professionals who have a decrease in progress and seek to correct the situation by increasing the load. The main reason is the excessive pursuit of one's athletic goals. Many people tend to believe that the more they "work out" in their workouts, the greater will be their results, but this is an absolute misconception. Bodybuilding and fitness requires a special approach, which should be in harmony with human physiology. Just like medicine, sports can cure and cause disorders, the only question is the dose.
Recently, there have been reports that overtraining may be a consequence of sports addiction. According to this theory, during and immediately after training, special substances called endorphins are secreted into the blood, which cause feelings of euphoria and joy. Some people note a particularly positive state after training, and in the absence of the latter there is a state similar to drug withdrawal: a drop in mood, an obsessive urge to go to the gym and so on. The person tries to go to the gym more often, and eventually overtraining occurs. [1]
S. Petibois[2] even considers carbohydrate metabolism disorders as one of the actual causes of overtraining condition appearance in athletes in the sports aimed at primary endurance development.
Biochemical indicators of overtraining in endurance training
Growth in strength and fitness results occurs during the recovery period after training (see Supercompensation). This process takes from 24 hours to several days. According to some sources, it takes up to 1 month to fully recover muscle tissue after high-intensity training. If there is an imbalance between the amount of training and recovery time, the athlete enters a training plateau, and then there is a decrease in all athletic performance. Mild overtraining requires several days of rest or reduced training activity until the athlete is fully recovered. If a more severe condition is allowed to develop, the symptoms will steadily progress and the athlete's condition will worsen, and recovery may take several weeks or even months.
The following factors contribute to the occurrence of overtraining: disruption of the daily rhythm of the body, diseases, fatigue at work, menstruation, poor nutrition, etc. Over-training is particularly common in bodybuilders whose training is characterized by high loads, especially during drying cycles.
The mechanisms of overtraining:
Muscle microtrauma prevails over the rate of muscle recovery
Amino acid deficiency. This condition is also called "protein deficiency."
During starvation, nutritional deficiencies lead to the activation of catabolic reactions during which muscle breakdown occurs.
Inadequate recovery, stress and illness increase cortisol levels, which destroy muscle.
CNS overload and exhaustion during training.
Every athlete should be aware of the following signs of overtraining:
Lack of training progress or regression
Lack of energy
Rapid fatigue
Depression
Loss of motivation
Irritability
Tachycardia
Decreased appetite
Persistent muscle pain
Lymphocytopenia
Impaired immunity (symptoms of infectious diseases)
Lack of pumping during training
Keep in mind that often athletes do not experience any of the above signs of overtraining although it is present (called asymptomatic overtraining), with the athlete in a training plateau and results not increasing or decreasing. If you are experiencing signs of overtraining, you should take immediate action to prevent this condition. One should be skeptical about the listed symptoms since the signs of overtraining can be easily confused with a large number of other pathological conditions, therefore, only a doctor can make an accurate diagnosis.
Identifying Overtraining
Here are a few strategies to help determine if an athlete is moving into overtraining.
The coach or athlete should monitor the morning heart rate daily to determine if the athlete is working at the appropriate level of exertion. It is best to monitor the heart rate in the morning, as the athlete comes to training rested and not yet affected by the stress of the day. An elevated resting heart rate for two to three days may be a sign of overexertion. In this case, the trainer should reduce the intensity of the training program (if possible, schedule "aerobic compensation" sessions) and closely monitor the heart rate for the next 24-48 hours.
This simple technique often gets a lot of censure from athletes. It is usually easy for them to record the load received or the training time, but athletes avoid recording the intensity level during the training session or the level of fatigue. Athletes train and sacrifice everything to be their best, so it is not their policy to admit excessive intensity in a training session. Therefore, the coach should monitor the athlete closely and take the time to educate him or her on the importance of working within their own physical limits. The coach may need to keep a special journal describing the physiological effects of the workout on the athlete. The journal should record how the athlete feels immediately after the workout, a few hours after the workout, and the next morning.
Heart rate variability (HRV) is a physiological phenomenon in which the time interval between heartbeats (also known as the cardio interval) changes. This time interval changes in response to factors such as fatigue, relaxation, emotional states, thoughts, and, of course, tension during exercise. The heart rate responds rapidly to these factors for optimal adaptation of body functions to the environment.
These changes occur independently of the control function of the central nervous system. In fact, these changes are related to the autonomic nervous system and, in particular, to the interaction between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. The sympathetic nervous system is an activating system and produces a number of effects such as increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, peripheral vasoconstriction, bronchial dilation, dilated pupils, increased sweating, release of energy sources into the bloodstream, impaired digestion, and loss of appetite, that is, it produces a fight or flight response. The chemical carriers of these reactions are noradrenaline, adrenaline, corticotropin and some corticosteroids.
In contrast to the above, if the parasympathetic system dominates, the heart rate becomes more even, blood pressure decreases, breathing slows down and becomes deeper, muscles relax, pupils narrow, and appetite and digestion improve. This system acts through the carrier chemical acetylcholine. The dominance of this system represents the body's response to rest, relaxation, tranquility, absence of danger and stress.
The state of the human body at a certain moment is determined by the balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems (neurovegetative balance). An important factor is the human body's ability to change its own balance in favor of one or another system. From a practical point of view, this means that if a training session with high loads is planned for the coming day, then after a night's rest the body needs to be in a rested state (parasympathetic system predominance). On the other hand, increased sympathetic tone during rest increases oxygen consumption in the production of ATP, which is necessary for recovery, and this is correlated with decreased levels of the neurosteroid dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate. In this case, it is recommended to plan a training session with a smaller volume of loads.
Aerobic compensation sessions have been shown to accelerate recovery by reducing the tone of the sympathetic system. A few days of sympathetic system hypertonicity is a sign of overexertion, which can lead to overtraining if appropriate load reduction measures are not taken.
We are very fortunate that it is now possible to use heart rate variability monitors (e.g. BioForce, Omegawave) to assess the body's response to training and prevent overtraining. These devices can be useful in the following cases: to confirm the dynamics of internal load (residual fatigue) planned over a microcycle or macrocycle; to better know the body's response to the training methods used; to help individualize the volume, intensity and frequency and therefore optimize each athlete's training program; to help identify and calculate the effects of stress factors outside the training environment (such as work, school, family and lifestyle).
The first treatment for overtraining is physical rest and relaxation:
Taking a break from training for a few days
Decreasing the training volume
Sleep (at least 10 hours a day)
Complete nutrition
Adaptogens and other restoratives
Vitamin therapy (especially B vitamins)
Deep muscle or sports massage
Cryotherapy and thermotherapy
Treatment of overtraining is considered complete when the athlete begins to progress again when he or she starts training.
Recovery from short-term overtraining should begin with stopping training for three to five days. After this rest period, the athlete should resume training, alternating each training session with a day off. In the case of severe overtraining and the need for a longer recovery period, the athlete will need approximately two weeks of work for each week of missed training to restore fitness levels[4].
Treating overtraining is a last resort, so always try to prevent it from developing. That way you won't miss time and you will achieve great results. Preventing overtraining is much like treating it and consists of:
Optimal training frequency
Split training
Adequate sleep (at least 8 hours per day)
A complete diet rich in vitamins
Adaptogens
Hydration
