Signs and Symptoms of Overtraining Syndrome in Athletes

If you are training for a big competition and love to sweat, then you should think about overtraining and the measure to avoid it. Overtraining is when you start noticing a decrease in your health or exercise performance as a result of too much working out and lack of getting sufficient recovery. Here is all you need to know about the signs and symptoms of overtraining and its treatment. 

What is Overtraining?

Overtraining happens when a person exceeds the ability of the body to recover from strenuous exercise. Overtraining refers to a point when a person experiences a decrease in performance as a result of training too hard that it becomes difficult for the body to recover. 

It is crucial to manage a balance between overload and recovery. Too little recovery or too much overload can lead to psychological and physical symptoms of overtraining syndrome.

Causes of Overtraining

The main causes that contribute to overtraining include:

• Insufficient recovery between different sessions of training
• Regular, intense weightlifting
• Intense training for too long
• Insufficient sleep
• A sudden drastic rise in the intensity of the regular exercise routine
• No breaks or vacations
• Inadequate nutrition
• Too much anxiety and stress

Signs and Symptoms of Overtraining

Below mentioned are some of the common signs and symptoms of overtraining.

• Lack of energy
• Feeling of tired, washed-out, and drained
• The feeling of irritability, moodiness, stress, and anxiety
• Sleep problems, nightmares, and insomnia
• A longer time is taken in heart rate recovery even after normal exercises
• A sudden decrease in performance
• Decreased Immunity
• Pain in joints and muscles
• Drop in training intensity
• Decreased appetite
• Headaches, nausea, and diarrhea
• Rising incidences of injuries
• Depression
• Loss of enthusiasm for sports
• The continuous need for exercise
• Menstrual irregularities in women
• Higher resting blood pressure
• Fluctuations in weight

If you are experiencing only one or two above-mentioned symptoms, then that does not mean you are overtrained. Nevertheless, if you are experiencing several symptoms together, then you might be facing the overtraining syndrome and might require immediate action.

Treatment of Overtraining

There are plenty of measures that you can undertake to avoid overtraining. Below mentioned are some of the treatments of overtraining.

1. Listen to the Needs of Your Body  

It is important for you to listen to your body in order to avoid the negative impacts of overtraining. You should give rest to excessively weak or sore muscles. If your muscle group is sore, give it a rest of 48 hours before working again with it. If you find that your muscles are still sore, then wait for a longer time.

2. Stop Exercising

Give your mind and body time to rest and recover as it will enable you to return yourself to a better and even stronger exercise program. In addition to this, it will make you more focused.

3. Introduce Recovery Days 

You should introduce recovery days or even weeks. For instance, every fourth week, lower the intensity and volume of each workout. Or choose any two days on which you perform light exercises.

4. Relieve Stress and Tension

There are varied ways to manage mental anxiety and muscular tension. Like you can opt for meditation, yoga, aromatherapy, soothing music, and you can even choose soothing music to relieve stress and tension. Hydrate your body and get a sports massage to relieve stress.

5. Treat Nutritional Deficiencies

It is important to restore the fuel of the body after a strong workout as it can lead to the state of overtraining. You should consume high quantities of vegetables and fruits in order to avoid deficiencies of vitamins and minerals.