News, Commentary & Opinion

The Journal of Holistic Performance
  • Articles
    • Journal
    • Blog
  • For Authors
  • Contact
  • Study

Are you overtraining? 

29/11/2016

Comments

 
Picture
Post by Emily White

As we all know, too much of anything can be a bad thing. Your fitness and training regime is no exception. Over training or more specifically under recovering is common amongst athletes but is now also becoming more prevalent amongst us ‘average Joes’. 
With a training regime, the recovery is just as if not more important then the actual routine itself. It is during your recovery that your body improves or makes those ‘gains’ so to speak. It makes sense; you want greater results from the gym so you increase the time you spend in there. Squat progress stalled? Squat more! Fat loss stalled? More cardio! However this can be a vicious cycle and if it affects your body’s ability to recover, chances are it’s going to affect your ability to make those gains that you are so desperately seeking. 

When someone is over training or not recovering sufficiently, your health and performance may suffer. Sometimes it can mean poor energy, fatigue, or just not getting the results that you feel you should (1). In an individual that is overtraining, you may see a decrease in anabolic hormones and an increase in catabolic hormones, such as cortisol (2). Now cortisol is an essential hormone for human health, when secreted at appropriate levels, but when cortisol levels are elevated, and remain so for a long period of time, it can wreak havoc on normal bodily functioning. In fact studies suggest that high cortisol can result in an increase in fat storage (3). Not an ideal result for anyone! 

There is a huge array of symptoms when it comes to overtraining, so it is important to be aware of the different markers that can be associated with it. Possible indicators include immune system suppression (you seem to come down with every virus going around), deteriorating aerobic and cardiac efficiency, low mood, poor sleep, feeling that your muscles are always sore or aren’t recovering as well as they should or poor performance in sport specific tests (such as time trials or just an overall decrease in gym performance) (1). 

In order to ensure you are not at risk of overtraining, it is important to focus on good, proper recovery. It can be beneficial to any training regime to prioritize some time out each day to relax, that could mean meditation or a warm bath and will help to reduce those stress hormones in the body. Also ensuring you are eating quality nutritious food and eating enough to support your exercise regime is important. Take note of your sleeping patterns, aim for 7-9 hours of restful sleep each night as sleep is the number one way to repair from the stresses of life and training (4). 

It is important not to forget that training is both a combination of work and rest and that improvement does not occur during the work aspect, only once your body has recovered. Train smarter, not harder in order to get the results that you want. 


​
LEarn more about studying nutrition with hpn


​References: 
1. Fry, R., Morton, A., & Keast, D. (1991). Overtraining in Athletes. Sports Medicine, 12(1), 32-65. doi: 10.2165/00007256-199112010-00004

2. Meeusen, R., Piacentini, M. F., Busschaert, B., Buyse, L., De Schutter, G., & Stray-Gundersen, J. (2004). Hormonal responses in athletes: the use of a two bout exercise protocol to detect subtle differences in (over)training status. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 91(2-3), 140-146. doi: 10.1007/s00421-003-0940-1

3. Björntorp, P. Body fat distribution, insulin resistance, and metabolic diseases. Nutrition, 13(9), 795-803. doi: 10.1016/S0899-9007(97)00191-3


4. Meeusen, R., Duclos, M., Foster, C., Fry, A., Gleeson, M., Nieman, D., . . . Urhausen, A. (2013). Prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the overtraining syndrome: joint consensus statement of the European College of Sport Science and the American College of Sports Medicine. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 45(1), 186-205. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e318279a10a



Comments

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Brain Health
    Carb Appropriate
    Clinical Nutrition
    Dairy
    Disease
    Exercise
    Fasting
    Genetics
    Gut Health
    Health
    Infographics
    Interviews
    Keto
    LCHF
    Lifestyle
    MCTs
    Meat
    Media
    Meet Our Advisors
    Meet Our Graduates
    Mushrooms
    Nutrition
    Paleo
    Pregnancy
    Public Health
    Research Review
    Skin Health
    Sleep
    Sugar
    Supplements
    Time Rich Practice
    Women's Health

    Archives

    September 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    March 2019
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013


Sign up for articles and nutrition news



Donate

© 2020 Holistic Performance Limited
Photos used under Creative Commons from marcoverch, wuestenigel, Rawpixel Ltd, wuestenigel, Rinet IT, Infinity Studio, Herbert Guedes, Brett Jordan
  • Articles
    • Journal
    • Blog
  • For Authors
  • Contact
  • Study