Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the Overtraining Syndrome

Abstract

Successful training must involve overload but also must avoid the combination of excessive overload plus inadequate recovery. Athletes can experience short term performance decrement, without severe psychological, or lasting other negative symptoms. This Functional Overreaching (FOR) will eventually lead to an improvement in performance after recovery. When athletes do not sufficiently respect the balance between training and recovery, Non-Functional Overreaching (NFOR) can occur. The distinction between NFOR and the Overtraining Syndrome (OTS) is very difficult and will depend on the clinical outcome and exclusion diagnosis. The athlete will often show the same clinical, hormonal and other signs and symptoms. A keyword in the recognition of OTS might be 'prolonged maladaptation' not only of the athlete, but also of several biological, neurochemical, and hormonal regulation mechanisms. It is generally thought that symptoms of OTS, such as fatigue, performance decline, and mood disturbances, are more severe than those of NFOR. However, there is no scientific evidence to either confirm or refute this suggestion. One approach to understanding the aetiology of OTS involves the exclusion of organic diseases or infections and factors such as dietary caloric restriction (negative energy balance) and insufficient carbohydrate and/or protein intake, iron deficiency, magnesium deficiency, allergies, etc. together with identification of initiating events or triggers. In this paper we provide the recent status of possible markers for the detection of OTS. Currently several markers (hormones, performance tests, psychological tests, biochemical and immune markers) are used, but none of them meets all criteria to make its use generally accepted. We propose a ''check list'' that might help the physicians and sport scientists to decide on the diagnosis of OTS and to exclude other possible causes of underperformance.

High‐Intensity Resistance Training with Insufficient Recovery Time Between Bouts Induce Atrophy and Alterations in Myosin Heavy Chain Content in Rat Skeletal Muscle

“…Furthermore, we observed a loss of body weight in the Tr group. Although some studies have reported loss of appetite, due to the arduous training schedule (Mackinnon, 2000;Meeusen et al, 2006), our results showed no differences in food intake between groups (data not shown). Thus, the weight loss observed in the Tr group could also be related to the reduction in plantaris muscle fiber CSA's, although other factors such as loss of motivation, apathy, irritability, and depression could be related to the weight loss (Fry et al, 1991;Mackinnon, 2000).…”

“…The term over-reaching or ''short-time'' overtraining describes the less severe form of overtraining, in which recovery generally occurs within days to weeks (Lehmann et al, 1993). The line between over-reaching and OTS is difficult to determine because both can show one or more of the following symptoms: accentuated catabolic state; physiological, immunological, and biochemical alterations; and increased incidence of injury and mood alterations (Armstrong and VanHeest, 2002;Meeusen et al, 2006).…”

Parâmetros Imunológicos E Infecções Do Trato Respiratório Superior Em Atletas De Esportes Coletivos

“…A síndrome do excesso de treinamento (overtraining) é definida como um complexo conjunto de desordens neuroendócrinas, que ocorrem no eixo HPA e HPG, caracterizada por persistente fadiga, distúrbios do sono, alterações no estado de humor, supressão da atividade reprodutiva, diminuição do desempenho, incapacidade de manter as cargas de treinamento e competições, assim como aumento na incidência de infecções, especialmente as ITRS 3,13,[40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47] .…”

“…Quanto a duração do quadro clínico, é importante destacar que a síndrome do overtraining denota o chamado excesso de treinamento com queda persistente do desempenho em longo prazo (perdurando mais de 3 semanas), enquanto que o overreaching denota um excesso de treinamento com queda no desempenho a curto prazo (perdurando menos de 3 semanas) e proporcionando ao atleta a super compensação em momentos adequados 41,42,44 , sendo caracterizado como overreaching funcional 44 .…”

“…A reversão do overreaching ocorre após dias de afastamento dos treinamentos ou diminuição das cargas de treinamento 41,42 , podendo ocorrer até mesmo uma melhora no desempenho 41,44 , neste caso, o overreaching funcional 44 , em decorrência de adaptações orgânicas ao estresse do treinamento.…”