As a coach, your job is to provide a training program for your athletes that gradually pushes them to improved performance, which may include getting bigger, stronger, and/or faster. Generally, such training programs require that you stress their muscles to the point of fatigue. The goal is that after a period of recovery, their muscles will then adapt to the training load and their performances will improve. But sometimes the stress of training can be too much and an athlete doesn’t bounce back. Instead, they remain fatigued for an extended period of time. This condition, if it persists, is called
overtraining syndrome.
Overreaching versus overtraining
Athletes are generally tired after training, but some workouts are more fatiguing than others. There may be periods during training when the resulting fatigue is more extreme.
Overreaching is a word used to describe the short-term overload training that produces this more profound muscle fatigue in athletes.
Functional overreaching occurs when such a training load is then paired with an appropriate recovery period, and the athlete fully recovers and ideally is able to perform better.
Non-functional overtraining occurs when the fatigue that athletes feel doesn’t disappear despite a typical period of recovery. Not surprisingly, their performances don’t improve either. Overtraining syndrome happens in cases where
non-functional overreaching is severe and persistent.
Athletes who repeatedly overload their bodies without allowing adequate recovery time will eventually reach a point where they have to rest. The length of that required rest period is one difference between overreaching and overtraining. With functional overreaching, full recovery may take a day, or even two to three weeks, depending upon the training overload. But with overtraining, recovery can take weeks to several months!
Overtraining symptoms
So how do you know if one or more of your athletes are in the throes of overtraining?
Common overtraining symptoms include:
- Decreased performance
- Loss of appetite
- Irritability and mood swings
- Difficulty concentrating
- Lingering muscle soreness
- Depression
- Severe fatigue
- Insomnia or poor sleep
- Decreased desire to train
- More frequent colds and flu
- Frequent overuse injuries
Factors that contribute to overtraining
The causes of overtraining can include a combination of physical and psychological stresses.
Physical stresses include too high a volume of training in a given period of time, or training that is too intense. For example, a 10–20% increase in training volume over a few weeks is too much too soon. Adding two new elements simultaneously to a workout, or too many high-intensity workouts in a week without adequate recovery, can send an athlete over the edge.
Too little sleep; travel and jet lag; dehydration; poor eating habits before, during, or after exercise; illness; injury; surgery; and medication use also can contribute to the problem.
Psychological stresses run the gamut from financial pressure to family, job, and school responsibilities; trouble with coaches or teammates; the death of someone close; and even the birth of a child.
Managing overreaching and preventing overtraining
So how can you as a coach help your athletes recover from overreaching and prevent the occurrence of overtraining?
- Recognize the symptoms: Be on the lookout for athletes who have overreached and are at risk of overtraining. Post the checklist below, and use it to evaluate each of your athletes.
- Cut back on the intensity and/or duration of training: In the face of poor performance, coaches often make the mistake of pushing their athletes to train even harder. But for the athlete who has already overreached and is on the verge of spiraling into overtraining, further training just compounds the problem and leads to even poorer performance. Instead of pushing harder, insist on a couple of rest days with no exercise. Follow that with three active rest days where the training load is low in intensity. After this five-day period, regular training can be resumed if symptoms of overreaching have largely been remedied. Athletes suffering from overtraining may need extended periods of rest before training is gradually resumed. The progress of these overtrained athletes should be followed by a sports medicine specialist.
- Consider a curfew: Instruct athletes who have overreached or overtrained to get at least 7–9 hours of sleep every night. Naps whenever possible can help as well.
- Make counseling available: Psychological stress can be a contributor to overtraining. A professional counselor can help athletes talk about and sort through whatever stresses are weighing them down.
- Keep athletes hydrated: Dehydration makes the heart work harder and exercise more difficult. For ways to help keep your athletes hydrated before, during, and after exercise, check out Hydration Tips for Coaches.
- Promote muscle fueling and muscle tissue repair and rebuilding: Have your athletes eat a high-carbohydrate meal about 2–3 hours before a workout, or a high-carb snack about an hour beforehand. For workouts lasting longer than 60–90 minutes, have your athletes consume 30–60 grams of carbs every hour during exercise. Sports drinks, energy gels and chews, and energy bars are fast and convenient ways to take in muscle-fueling carbs during exercise. To promote faster post-exercise recovery, have your athletes consume carbs along with some protein as soon as possible after training. Having a recovery drink after exercise is a simple and convenient method for jump-starting the recovery process.
- After exercise, implement relaxation and other techniques that promote recovery: Examples include meditation, relaxation exercises, massage, stretching, ice or cold baths, a stint in a sauna or steam room, and electric muscle stimulation.
The bottom line is that overreaching can be managed and overtraining prevented in your athletes by being on the lookout for early signs and symptoms, and by building in adequate time for recovery — whether that is a day, a week, or more. Athletes need time and proper nutrition to rebuild and to respond to their training. Recovery, just like training, is a critical part of the process of improving athletic performance.
Overreaching and Overtraining Symptom Checklist
- Decreased performance during training and competitions
- Severe fatigue
- Sleep disturbance or insomnia
- Loss of appetite
- Irritability and mood swings
- Depression
- Decreased desire to train
- Extended periods of muscle soreness
- Difficulty concentrating
- Response to more training is a further decrease in performance
- Frequent injuries
- Frequent colds and flu
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