Exercise and Overtraining

Everyone who exercises has at some point either felt overtrained or been overtrained. It is a fine balance between inducing the maximum adaptation response (getting stronger, for example) and doing more work than the body can adequately recover from. In the latter scenario, the physiological components of the body struggle to maintain equilibrium, or homeostasis, and eventually fail. At this point the symptoms of overtraining appear. The following article addresses some of these issues.... Damon


"The goal is certainly not to avoid stress - stress is a part of life. It is a natural by-product of all our activities...But in order to express yourself fully, you must first find your optimum stress level and then use your adaptation energy at a rate and in a direction adjusted to the innate structure of your mind and body. It is not easy...It takes much practice and almost constant self-analysis." (Selye, 1956)

"...you must train very hard to make progress: however, you must be able to recover from your workouts." Jim Schmitz U.S. Olympic Weightlifting Coach 1980, 1988, 1992

OVERREACHING vs. OVERTRAINING

Overreaching is a term used to describe temporary overtraining, which can require 2 days to 2 weeks of recovery time and true overtraining, which can require weeks to months of recovery time. "Overreaching occurs when full recovery is not achieved for an extended time period and fatigue builds up. This usually occurs slowly over the course of a month or two, but it can happen much quicker in the face of a dramatic increase in training volume and/ or intensity. Symptoms associated with overreaching are similar to fatigue, only more severe. Those of you who have overreached may also notice an increased resting heart rate, premature fatigue during training, decrease in work capacity, increased heart rate during submax loads and an increased thirst, especially at night."

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