Exercising to Extremes- Signs and Symptoms

Extreme exercising can lead an athlete down a slippery slope to overtraining syndrome (OTS).  Athletes and even fitness enthusiasts can train in such a way as to overtrain.  Three terms that should be understood are overload, over-reach and overtraining syndrome.

Overload: is done as a systematic increase in training intensity.
Over-reach: is unplanned excessive overload without adequate rest.
Overtraining Syndrome: is essentially untreated over-reaching.

OTS can reveal itself in psychologic, physiological and performance issues.  Often the psychological manifestations are the leading and overlooked signs and symptoms. The psychological signs and symptoms are then followed by the physiological and performance characteristics of OTS. The following is a list of signs and symptoms for each of the three types of characteristics.

Psychological:
- changes in personality
- decrease in motivation
- inability to concentrate on the task at hand
- apathy
- depression

Physiological
- changes in cardiovascular characteristics (heart rate & blood pressure)
- increase basal metabolic rate
- increase in body temperature
- excessive thrist
- changes in hormones decrease in testorone and increase in cortisol
- decrease in immune system

Performance
- decrease in ability to perform at best of ability
- regression in ability
- decrease tolerance to training
- increase in recovery requirement from training
- decrease in motor coordination

The above lists are not exhaustive but are the most common signs and symptoms.  The greatest asset to preventing OTS is rest.  It is vital to recognize the the early signs of OTS so that corrections can be made.  If OTS is ignored for too long the help of medical professionals including a sports medicine physician and licensed therapist.




References:

A Review of Overtraining Syndrome- Recognizing the Signs and Symptoms; Mary Black Johnson, PhD, ATC, Steven M. Thiese, MS; Journal of Athletic Training; Vol 27:4; 1992

American College of Sports Medicine; http://www.acsm.org/; Current Comments: Report on Overtraining with Rsistance Exercise

The following two references were pulled from the web however boast impressive references:

The Overtraining Syndrome in Athletes: The Challenge of Prevention; 2001; John Loeschhorn

Overtraining: Undermining Success?; Paige Kinucan, Kravitz PH.D