overtraining

Overtraining denotes a condition in athletes where intensive training with insufficient recovery leads to a persistent decline in performance and chronic fatigue. It is part of a spectrum that includes functional overreaching and nonfunctional overreaching, and it can evolve into an overt overtraining syndrome when recovery is prolonged.

Causes include excessive training load, inadequate rest, insufficient nutrition and hydration, sleep deprivation, high psychosocial stress, and frequent injuries. Individual factors such as age, sex, conditioning level, and baseline health also influence risk.

Common signs and symptoms are prolonged fatigue beyond normal adaptation, decreased performance, longer time to recover, sleep disturbances, mood changes (irritability, depression), reduced motivation, increased perceived effort, elevated resting heart rate and slower heart rate recovery, recurrent illness or injuries.

Diagnosis is clinical and based on history, training data, and exclusion of medical conditions. Monitoring tools like heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep quality, and mood can help assess risk. There is no single lab test for overtraining; hormonal and immune markers may be affected but are not diagnostic.

Management centers on reducing training load, prioritizing recovery, sleep, nutrition, and stress management. A gradual, supervised return-to-training plan is recommended after a sufficient rest period. Prevention relies on periodized training, built-in recovery, cross-training, and ongoing monitoring of symptoms and workload.

Prognosis varies; most athletes recover with proper rest, but some cases take weeks to months, and relapse can occur if training is resumed too aggressively without addressing underlying factors.