Overtraining: The Plague Of The Endurance Athlete

Optimal performance is the goal of any training programme irrespective of whether you are an elite, development level or recreational athlete.

The key to achieving optimal performance lies with the design of your training programme and adherence to the specific training principles, in particular the overload principle. The overload principle of training states that:
An athletes’ physiology will not adapt unless it experiences more stress than that to which it is accustomed.

However, there is a fine line – especially for endurance athletes - whereby the overload must not overstress the athlete and in doing so cause performance decrements. High volume and/or high intensity training, together with inadequate recovery periods can limit a person’s ability to perform at an optimal level. In some cases this type of stressful training can lead to overtraining.

Overtraining or the overtraining syndrome is difficult to define. There are many studies that have been performed on all levels of athletes, across many sports, in an attempt to provide accurate information to coaches and athletes about what causes overtraining and how to pick it up before it happens. Despite the quantity of research there is still no concrete way of knowing if you are training at a stress level that might put you in danger of becoming overtrained. So what can you do to ensure you are making the most of your training, but not overdoing it?

• Firstly, make sure you have someone writing your training programme that knows a thing or two about writing training programmes...
• A coach is a good idea. A coach who coaches athletes who do well, make it to the start line without injury or illness and who has athletes that do not pull out of events is a safe bet
• Get tested. Have some kind of performance assessment (VO2max, lactate threshold etc) to ensure that your training programme is tailored specifically to your physiological requirements
• Rest. Part of your training should include rest. You train hard and in return you need to rest well. An ‘off’ day is always a good thing to have in a training programme – and ‘off’ means ‘off’ not a short run or bike at lower intensity than usual
These tips are practical and a good way to ensure your risk of overtraining is minimised, but they’re not a guarantee. Knowing what to look for means you can monitor yourself and if something untoward occurs that you think may mean you are heading down the overtraining path, you can intervene and change your training accordingly. Things that you can look out for are:
• Extreme tiredness – more than just normal training fatigue
• Poor sleeping patterns
• Irritable or depressed mood
• Faster than normal resting heart rate
• Frequent colds, flu or sinus issues
• Tendency to be ill or sick more than is usual
• Training feels harder than normal and your performance is consistently below par
• Increased aches and pains

There are many other factors that could mean that you are heading toward overtraining but the ones above are easy for anyone to monitor and don’t require medical techniques or expensive analysis. The key to knowing if you are at risk of developing overtraining is that you have more than one of the signs listed above and you have them consistently. Having a late night and feeling tired the next day does not equate to ‘extreme tiredness’ but waking every morning for a week and feeling as if you have no energy and you are not motivated to get yourself out of bed may be a problem. Keep in mind that there are other things that may cause the signs above too e.g. poor diet and emotional stress at home or work can cause sleepless night and fatigue. So monitor your training within the context of your life.

If you think you fall into the possible overtraining category than all you need to do is rest. Talk to your coach or to other athletes and decide how long you need to have off. Again ‘off’ means ‘off’ not just an easy week. A week off is always a good starting point, it may sound like a long time but if you have been training consistently it will do your body a world of good. A well rested body adapts better and if you have been training over a season you will not loose strength/endurance etc from such a short rest interval. Bear in mind that an athlete diagnosed with overtraining is likely to need somewhere in the vicinity of 6 months off training! Not a favourable prospect for most readers I expect! Rest needs to be trained, you need to train your body to recover so it can take advantage of all the exercise you are doing.
If you have any specific queries regarding overtraining contact anna.rolleston@manukau.ac.nz