Athletes that want to compete at the highest level of their sport, whether to secure a college scholarship or pursue a professional career, must push themselves through disciplined, regimented training. However, too much training can endanger an athlete's health and performance just as much as not enough training. When an athlete falls victim to overtraining, he is at greater risk for injury and illness and may be forced to take time off from competition.
Increased Risk of Injury
While the threshold of overtraining may vary among athletes depending upon factors such as age, experience, body type and fitness, its dangers are universal. When an athlete overtrains in a sport, she works the same muscle groups over and over, straining the body beyond its ability to repair muscles and joints. Overtraining, particularly among youth athletes whose muscles and bone structures are still growing or endurance athletes subject to prolonged exercise, increases an athlete's risk for muscle pulls and strains, stress fractures in bones, and tendonitis or joint damage in key joints such as the shoulders, knees and ankles. Refusal to take a few days off to heal common overtraining injuries could result in major injuries, keeping an athlete out of action for weeks at a time.
Increased Risk of Illness
The goal of training is to strengthen the body, but overtraining can actually weaken the body by lowering its immunity to disease-causing viruses. Heavy training or intense competition can produce increased levels of cortisol, a stress molecule in the body that depresses the immune system. As a result, overtrained athletes easily contract illnesses, most commonly upper respiratory tract infections. These feelings of fatigue and sickness are compounded if an overtrained athlete contracts anemia, another symptom of overtraining. Anemia, or a deficiency of iron in the body, weakens the body by preventing the transportation of blood and oxygen throughout the body to key muscles.
Stress and Sleep Loss
Overtraining often challenges an athlete's mind as much as it taxes his body. Despite causing increased levels of fatigue, overtraining can actually prevent an athlete from getting a good night's rest due to elevated stress levels and resting heart rates. A lack of sleep, in turn, deters the body's process of restoring muscles and the brain, creating a cyclical effect of overtraining. Concentration also dips during overtraining, which causes irritability and can make even the most disciplined athlete feel unmotivated or disinterested in training.
Loss of Appetite
When an athlete suffers from overtraining, her diet can change drastically or perhaps even disappear. Overtraining signals the body to produce higher levels of the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine, which curb appetite. Overtraining also affects appetite by causing cases of heatrburn or gastrointestinal ailments such as diarrhea or constipation, further limiting an athlete's appetite. A decreased appetite prevents the body from restoring its reserves of carbohydrate energy or ingesting the protein the body needs to restore tired muscles, again continuing the cycle of fatigue.
References
- "Dayton Daily News"; Preventing Overuse Injuries and Burnout in Young Athletes; Marjie Gilliam; August 2011
- University of Cincinnati; Overtraining Can Sideline Young Athletes; Angela Koenig; September 2008
- USA Triathlon; Detecting and Avoiding Overtraining Part II: Warning Signs; Lee Gardner and Walter F. DeNino
- The Pfitzinger Lab Reports; Are You Overtraining?; Pete Pfitzinger
- "The New York Times"; When Training Backfires: Hard Work That's Too Hard; Gina Kolata; September 2008
- American Council on Exercise: Top 10 Signs You're Overtraining
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