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What is overtraining syndrome & how can you prevent this?

In this series of ‘Fuel Your Fitness’ (FYF), let’s look into the topic of overtraining syndrome.  While many think that athletes have to give their all 120% of the time, go for the gusto, and take it to the max in order to maximize and improve their performance, too much training can also be detrimental if not carefully monitored.  Even if we are not elite athletes, overtraining syndrome can occur if we take it too far too quickly.  In some runners, as explained by Noakes,

‘The first signs of overtraining are generalized fatigue, recurrent headaches, diarrhea and weight loss, sexual disinterest, and a loss of appetite for food or work.  Others find they are no longer able to sleep properly and are troubled by early morning wakening, an inability to relax, listlessness, a generalized swelling of the lymph glands, worsening allergies, colds or flu, or respiratory infections that resist conventional therapy’ (Lore of Running, 2003).

Whew!  That is quite the list!  I’m sure many of us have experienced some sort of fatigue in our training program, but overtraining can be hard to definitively diagnose.  There is a fine line between what is considered healthy training and unhealthy overtraining, and most of the time that fine line is blurred and difficult to define exactly.  Of course training is what enhances our performance and improves our stamina because it challenges and overloads the body, but excessive hard training can impair performance and make training counterproductive and harmful.  Over straining the body in training can lead to physical and mental health injuries and loss of critical time during a season.

‘Overtraining is the basically the ‘result of an imbalance in the training-to-recovery ratio–too much training and competing and too little recovery and regeneration’ (Favero, 2009).

Like supplements and food, more training doesn’t necessarily equal better results.  Taking more vitamin C doesn’t mean you’ll have an increased capacity to defend free radicals or keep your body from getting sick, but having too much vitamin C (>2000mg/day) can actually cause stomach cramps, diarrhea, and nausea.  The signs of overtraining syndrome aren’t that easy to spot, because they can be very similar to overreaching.  Overreaching is a stage in the continuum of overtraining, but not quite as severe.  The difference lies in the magnitude of the symptoms.

Overreaching, like most of us experience when we work out hard, leads to general muscle soreness, joint stiffness and short decreases in performance and/or mental desire to workout.  What makes overtraining different is it results in a longer period of fatigue, soreness and feelings of burnout.  One of the first signs of overtrainings is a decrease in training performance when one should be in good form.  Other physical changes that can be seen are changes in resting heart rate (usually an increase), higher HR during moderate workouts, decreased max HR, and decreased max lactate levels.  An example could be if an athlete has to run harder and at a higher HR to achieve the same time.  Other mental disturbances can include sleeplessness, mood changes, decreased appetite and being unable to concentrate (Favero, 2009).  It’s just really hard to catch overtraining because it can appear normal during regular training.  Usually if an athlete notices their performance declining they consider they haven’t trained enough, which can only exacerbate the problem.

So how can you spot it?

It has been suggested that individual endurance athletes are more likely to experience overtraining and take themselves past the point of healthy training.  Many endurance athletes, like runners, train exclusively within their sport, and monotony can also lead to overtraining.  Almost 50% of young athletes were diagnosed with an overuse injury rather than an acute injury (Favero, 2009).  While there aren’t really any specific tests, monitoring HR, strength, work capacity and training performance from a baseline value can be one way, but it’s important to just be aware of our own bodies and changes.  Soreness and fatigue are normal parts of the recovery process, but if this doesn’t normalize between 48-72 hours, the body isn’t recovering properly and something is going on.  It’s important to look at one’s mental outlook, mood states and feeling of burnout.  Of course proper nutrition and adequate sleep are also very important factors in the prevention of overtraining.

We all know our bodies pretty well and can catch when we aren’t feeling quite right or our bodies seem to not recover quite as fast.  Essentially our brains reduce the capacity to recruit muscle fibers in order to protect the body from further damage.  It’s important to catch any physical or mental indications first and then taper the program accordingly, say 10% for less serious cases to completely stopping training for more serious cases.  Noakes suggests that if full-blown overtraining is present, one should rest completely for at least several weeks.  We must be aware of the symptoms of overtraining and keep track of any physiological or mental symptoms that may change during intense training, and understand the importance of gradual training on the overall health of our bodies.

I had quite the ‘lightbulb’ moment in spin a little while ago and realized I don’t need to push myself to the point of complete breathlessness for every cardio exercise bout.  I may feel energized afterwards, but my energy drains later, and it’s not productive in that it can leave me feeling less than stellar for the next sweating sesh.  Training should be a progressive continuum for out bodies to improve, not to kick it more when it’s down.  Especially if we want to keep our bodies working and functioning later in life I think it’s important to work hard, yes, but not super intense every single time.  Even Noakes suggests that running performance can actually be enhanced when training was less than we think it should be.  Sometimes our bodies need an ohm moment.  I think this is my favorite pose 🙂

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Because running can be one of the most challenging on the body, here are just a few general guidelines when running and training:

• Increase your mileage or time no more than 10% per week.  It may not seem like much, but it’s important, especially with running to not overtax the body.  Of course this will depend on the individual athlete and does not work for everyone at every mileage.  I’ve increased my mileage up to 4.3 miles so far!
• Give yourself at least a week of mileage reduction every 4th week in training to give the body a rest.  This of course is only a guideline and can include a 25% reduction each day or 2 days off during the week.  Do what’s best for you and your body.
• Increase mileage before speed to help prepare the body for more intensity in the future.
• Keep track of your training and monitor exertion, HR and any physical or mental changes.
• Proper nutrition & SLEEP is a must!  short naps are also a good thing 🙂
• This is just a short list, do you have any others?

Do you think you have experienced any symptoms of overtraining?

Do you listen to your body when it needs a break?

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I had to give running a break this week as my hip still isn’t feeling quite right.  After my run last week, I still notice it slightly when I walk, so I don’t want to make it any worse.  I wonder how much it has to do with my body being used to being turned out all the time for dance?  And now I’m throwing it for a loop with this different kind of impact?  Any biomechanics people know?  But, I still had a fairly good fitness week!  I actually found this new dance studio near me and am really wanting to get back and miss dance dearly.  I will try to get another bike ride this weekend since last week I was a wimp from the cold and had to cut it a little short 🙂

• Tues/Thurs – 1 hour full-body weight session (I’m trying to increase weights to 2x per week to see some gains)
• Friday – 6am spin session before work was cancelled 🙁 so I did some stationary bike and abs

I’m really thinking about registering for the Napa Valley Metric Century Ride May 23rd.  I would just need help raising money for the Livestrong Foundation, Queen of the Valley Medical Center and St. Helena Hospital.  Do you think I should go for it??

If you missed it, last week’s FYF featured Safe Weight Loss for Athletes.  Stay tuned for the next which will focus on Whey Protein and if there’s really a benefit (Gina do you want to add info you’ve found too?).  Let me know what you guys think of FYF.  I think this one was a bit too long, but there’s so much good information!  I’m trying to make them informative and interesting to you, not boring and stupid. Let me know if they suck butt and I’ll figure something else out!

Unfortunately I didn’t win the trip to see the Almost Famous Chef Competition hosted by Foodbuzz and San Pellegrino here in Vegas, but there’s still a chance for the Napa trip in March!  haha but I highly doubt it.  Spread the word on Twitter if you can!

Last night I made spanakopitas and a chickpea salad for dinner.  Oh man, so good!  I had to restrict myself from eating more of the flaky, crispy goodness 🙂

Have a great weekend! I’m going to a Super Bowl Party hosted by the SwankyRD’s family!!!  I’m excited! (more for the friendship and food rather than the football game to be honest lol)