Your hypothalamus regulates many of your bodily functions, including hormonal release. Long-term overtraining may result in hypothalamic dysfunction, where your hypothalamus fails to properly regulate your hormones, sex drive and possibly menstrual cycle. It takes long periods of overtraining for this to occur, but if you suspect any sort of hypothalamic dysfunction or endocrine system issues, consult a physician immediately.
Overtraining
Overtraining is caused by long-term excessive exercise. This is not something that occurs in a single training session, nor a week. Depending on your training volume and intensity, this can take weeks or months. Excessive exercise leading to overtraining can be further complicated by poor dietary practices. If your training volume is extremely high, this is not the time to attempt to crash diet or cut out all dietary fats, which are critical for hormone formation.
Hypothalamic Disorder
Hypothalamic disorder can result in disruption of your pituitary gland, which regulates your testes or ovaries, your adrenal gland and thyroid gland. Disruption of these glands results in sleeplessness, drowsiness, moodiness, irritability and inability to recover from exercise. You can also suffer from hunger or lack of appetite and the inability to regulate your core temperature. The lack of appetite can further complicate the issue, leading you deeper into overtraining. This can also lead to extra issues for women.
Female Athlete Triad
Long-term hypothalamic suppression or disruption can lead to disordered eating. Combined with overtraining, the risk of osteoporosis in women increases. This is known as the "female athlete triad." Premature osteoporotic fractures may occur, and bone density loss secondary to hypothalamic disorder may never be regained, according to a 2000 study published in the "American Family Physician." Failing to recognize the condition may result in a need for hormone therapy and significant intervention to resume normal function, including menstrual cycle.
Recovery
To recover, you need to drastically limit your exercise volume and intensity, increase your rest and increase your caloric intake. Ensure that you are eating plenty of healthy fats, as dietary sterol intake, from cholesterol, helps your body synthesize hormones. Do not stop exercising altogether, as this can lead to depression. Instead, train in a recovery mode, where you work on improve technique in certain areas and quit worrying about performance.
References
- "Physiology of Sport and Exercise, Fourth Edition"; Dr. Jack H. Wilmore, et al.; 2007
- Medline Plus: Hypothalamic Dysfunction
- "American Family Physician"; The Female Athlete Triad; J.A. Hobart, et al.; June 2000
- "Textbook of Biochemistry With Clinical Correlations"; Thomas M. Devlin; 2010
