Overtraining is the blight of any programme. When the stresses of training outperform the aptitude of the body to adapt, the trainee is at risk of not only ceasing to grow, but in fact, degenerating. Overtraining is the snowballing outcome of extreme high-intensity or high-volume training, or both, without passable recovery, that results in the body’s failure to recover from stress and acclimate to it. The main display is a decrease in performance capacity that does not mend with a quantity of rest that would typically end in recovery. A useful definition of overtraining that takes into account all levels of training advancement, though, necessitates a better way to put a figure on recovery time in each phase.
Overtraining happens when performance does not recover within one reduced-load training cycle. Once overtraining is identified, it is vital to take corrective action, as longer stages of overtraining entail longer periods of recovery. It quite conceivably can take as much as twice as long to get a trainee out of overtraining as it took to develop the condition. Irrespective of the training advancement stage of the individual, a repetitive and intensely reduced loading cycle of equivalent duration should closely follow the identification of overtraining in order to restore homeostasis. Diagnostic signs of overtraining in non-novices are severe, when finally obvious ;
- Visibly decreased performance
- Increased long-lasting pain
- Disturbed sleep
- Chronic high heart rate
- Irregular mood swings
- Weight loss
- Low appetite
and other mental and physical aberrations. Interestingly, these are precisely the same physical symptoms representative of severe depression, a clinical issue also stemming from the build-up of persistent stress. Horror accounts regarding severe overtraining are out there, with instances of people losing complete training years. No effort must be spared in identifying and handling this very severe condition.
