Overtraining: Avoid this common trap

by Panos Prokos, MS, CSCS

I am going to expand a bit on the subject of Overtraining since it is a common trap that many fitness enthusiasts fall into. If you have been in training for a while you most probably have come across people who mention that they are discouraged by their lack of further progress after reaching a plateau in their training program. You may also have come across people who despite their initial gains, have reached a point where they lost their enthusiasm, or even worse, experienced losses in their performance. Many of these people have a common point: They may be experiencing the dreadful state of overtraining.

We should not forget that the purpose of a training program is to produce physiological and metabolic adaptations which will enable the athlete to perform batter. After vigorous exercise, the body actually initiates an adaptation process through which it increases its abilities to perform in anticipation of the upcoming increased demands of training. For example, an athlete undergoing endurance training places significant stress in the mitochondria of the muscles, since the mitochondria are the locations where the aerobic metabolism takes place. As a result, the body initiates an adaptation process with the goal of increasing the size and the number of muscle mitochondria, therefore making feature aerobic demands easier to satisfy.

This adaptation process occurs after a very strong stimulation on the muscle has been initiated. This is the reason that maximal or near-maximal effort is necessary when muscle gains are desired. This is also the reason for the last three burning repetitions in a weight training workout or the last two laps in a swimming program. This stimulation however, inevitably causes some degree of catabolism to the body, in other words it actually destroys some muscle tissue. However, during the adaptation process following the exercise, this tissue, actually attempts to grow back stronger and larger than before. This rebuilt of tissue during the recovery period is also known as anabolism. It makes sense, that the processes of anabolism and catabolism should be kept in balance otherwise, the body may actually experience negative gains in strength, endurance or muscle size.

When this adaptation mechanism has been stressed to a point where the body can not effectively recover and rebuild itself, the athlete enters a state known as "Overtraining". It is important to mention that the overtraining state can result not only because of extreme physiological stress but also because of extreme psychological stress. As I have mentioned in my article "An introduction to muscle development" exercise also involves a neuromuscular adaptation, in other words, the body increases its ability to perform better through more efficient neuromuscular processing. In the same article, I also mentioned the significance of Mind-Body connection and the effects that lack of such a connection can have for performance gains.

In 1956 a famous physiologist named Hans Selye who was specializing on stress research came up with the General Adaptation Syndrome. He proposed that a specific stressor imposed on a body system does not affect only this particular system but has a more generalized effect in the whole body. In addition to this, if many stressors act on the body, they have a cumulative effect which can severely affect the adaptation process. For example, the performance of college athletes is usually worse during examination periods, or when an emotional crisis such as a social relationship problem occurs. I will not expand more on Selye's theory here since this would fall out of the scope of this article, but I am mentioning it since, as we will see, it affects the efficacy of the post exercise adaptation process.

There are basically three types of symptoms which indicate that an athlete has entered a state of overtraining:

• Physical Symptoms: The athlete experiences weight loss, which is not explained by a change in dietary habits. The athlete may also experience an abnormal amount of muscle and joint pain which was not present before. This is not to say that all muscle and joint pains are due to overtraining, but simply that overtraining should be suspected if these pains are accompanied by many of the other symptoms mentioned here. Athletes may also experience physical reactions such as an increase in the number of colds, stuffy noses, or an increased tendency to get sick. Finally, they may experience a loss of energy and a decrease in their appetite.
• Emotional Symptoms: The athlete may experience lack of motivation to workout, and in some cases nervousness and/or depression. Lack of concentration during exercise is also a common complaint among overtrained athletes.
• Performance Symptoms: Here we have indicators such as an increased Heart Rate for the same exerted effort, and a decline in performance such as higher times for a runner or a swimmer, lower lifting ability for a lifter, or lower jumping height for a pole vault athlete.

Having mentioned the symptoms of overtraining, lets examine the factors that actually cause an athlete to enter this state. As I have mentioned in my article on Low Carbohydrate diets, such nutrition, depletes the muscles from glycogen and is NOT recommended for Fitness enthusiasts or very active people who are training on a regular basis. However, there seems to be one more reason that Low-Carb diets should be avoided and that is simple the fact that such diets may promote overtraining. When muscle glycogen is low and energy is needed for exercise, the body may enter a state of catabolism in essence braking down its own muscle tissue in order to extract amino acids which can be converted to glucose and be used for energy production. I am not going to get into the derails of this process here since I have already expanded on it on my "Optimizing Aerobic exercise for fat loss" article, which I encourage you to read. This destruction of muscle tissue for energy supplementation, negatively affects muscular power as well as endurance. In other words, the athlete instead of making gains he or she is actually eating away his or her own muscle system. The way muscle depletion promotes overtraining is both physiological since it prevents the body from adequately rebuilding itself through the adaptation process, but also psychological since the athlete experiences a decrease in performance and a consequent discouragement and lack of motivation.

Another cause of overtraining has been suspected to be the accumulation of free radicals in the body. Free radicals, are groups of atoms that are produced during the aerobic metabolism and which damage the DNA and muscle cells causing loss of aerobic and anaerobic endurance. It should be mentioned that free radicals are not produced only during aerobic exercise but during other body processes, however, the rate of production significantly increases during aerobic metabolism. It is generally accepted that the group of vitamins known as ACE in other words the vitamins A, C and E have antioxidant properties which are beneficial for every individual and not only athletes as they promote a better health through free radical elimination. However, the subject of free radicals is out of the scope of this article but I would certainly advise anyone looking to improve his or her health to inquire more about it. People who participate in any form of aerobic exercise for more than 20 minutes should keep in mind that they are experiencing an increase in free radical development and may be in an increased risk of entering a state of overtraining.

As mentioned above external factors such as environmental anxiety and competition may also promote overtraining Continuous high intensity training such as the one experienced by competitive athletes pauses an increased stressor to the body and in line with Selye's theory can bring an athlete in an overtraining state. That is where a good coach can prove his or her value by becoming a resource of motivation, guidance and psychological support for the serious athlete.

The above article presented the basic symptoms and causes of overtraining. It is by no means a complete discussion on the subject but should be very useful to the athlete or the fitness enthusiast who is planning to train and improve his or her performance in the long run.

In some cases the "Less is More" attitude can be very beneficial for the serious athlete. So train smart and train forever !!