Overtraining is the body's lack of physical and emotional resources to recuperate after intense training. Ignoring such a state of the body leads to malfunctions in many of its structures, significantly increases the risk of health complications and can become the reason for contraindications for playing sports in the future.
How overtraining occurs
Physical activity is a kind of stress for the body. In normal amounts, it has a positive effect on the structures of the body, improves the functioning of the cardiovascular, nervous, and respiratory systems, strengthens joints and muscle tissue, and helps to normalize metabolism.
After exertion, the body needs time to recover. At this time, there is the elimination of microtraumas in the muscles, the return of the nervous system to normal operation and the replenishment of microelements that are involved in numerous processes that ensure the functioning of the body as a whole.
The imbalance between training and the recovery period leads to the state of the training plateau - the lack of dynamics of productivity growth. In an effort to fill this gap, many athletes increase the load, thus accumulating stress. As a result, microtrauma to muscle tissue significantly exceeds the body's recovery capacity.
Secondary causes can be:
- Lack of required calories. Micronutrient deficiencies lead to muscle-damaging catobolic reactions. With a lack of amino acids, the construction of new cells is disrupted.
- Stress and illness increase the level of cortisol, the task of which is to provide a person with additional energy, and it is produced as a result of the breakdown of muscle mass.
- Intense training leads to a malfunction in the nervous system.
Signs of overtraining
The first alarm bell is a lack of progress from exercise or even a decline in performance.
Other signs are gradually observed, these are:
- fast fatiguability;
- sleep disturbance;
- depression;
- lack of motivation;
- irritability.
When an athlete continues to exercise in this state, overtraining passes into another stage, the signs of which are more pronounced, these are:
- tachycardia;
- chronic pain in joints and muscles;
- loss of appetite;
- weakening of the immune system (manifested by signs of colds);
- loss of muscle mass;
- headache;
- weight loss.
Symptoms of overtraining are common in many conditions and appear gradually. There are also many cases when athletes, apart from a decline in performance, have no signs at all. In order not to be mistaken in the diagnosis, it is necessary to consult a doctor and an experienced specialist in a particular field of sports.
Is jogging overtraining possible?
A comfortable running pace for the body is considered to be the absence of rapid breathing, pain in muscles and joints - this means that only oxidative muscle fibers (OMF) are involved in the process, with aerobic exercise they never get tired.
During the build-up of the pace, glycolytic muscle fibers (GMF) are connected to work, which can work normally only for a certain time. For example, for amateurs it is no more than 1 minute. Further, the production of lactic acid begins, accompanied by the appearance of pain, increased breathing and loss of strength.
If you ignore this state and run without slowing down, the death of myofibrils in the cells of muscle fibers begins, provoking the destruction of the muscle as a whole.
In order not to harm health, it is necessary to gradually introduce glycolytic muscles into the process of playing sports. Uncontrolled training, without giving the body time to restore the destroyed muscle fibers, normalize the work of the cardiovascular and nervous systems, lead to general fatigue and, as a result, to overtraining.
Overtraining in weightlifting
Exercise with weights is characterized by certain parameters, these are:
- choice of exercise;
- sequence of classes;
- the amount of sets and reps;
- intensity (% of maximum repetition);
- rest between classes.
The training period involves countless combinations of these parameters. Load variability in a training program is called "periodization."
Periodization ensures that the body receives adequate stress to progress from exercise and fully recovers before another exercise. An incorrectly designed training program, for example, overestimated volumes or intensity, lead to a deterioration in results, and after a certain period, to overtraining.
Overtraining treatment
Getting rid of an unpleasant phenomenon involves good rest and balanced nutrition, for this you need:
- pause in sports;
- provide food with a lot of proteins, vitamins and minerals;
- sleep for at least 8 hours;
- visit the massage room;
- take hot baths with salts or go to the bathhouse;
- do muscle stretching exercises.
In severe cases, when overtraining is accompanied by pain in the heart or increased body temperature, you should see a doctor.
After the recovery period, it is important to resume training gradually, minimizing the previous individual loads and gradually increasing them over the course of 2 weeks.
How to avoid overtraining
To prevent overtraining of the body, you need to adequately assess its capabilities. This is not easy, especially for beginner athletes. Therefore, it is very important to consult a professional trainer who will draw up an optimal program for an individual organism based on its physical condition.
General rules for the prevention of overtraining:
- At the beginning of sports, you need to exclude everyday workouts, 3 times a week is enough. After the body adapts to the stress, you can increase the number of training sessions or the intensity of each session.
- You should not practice for more than 1.5 hours, only professional athletes can afford this.
- There should be warm-ups and cool-downs during training. Including cardio at the beginning and stretching at the end of the sport.
- Periodic adjustment of the training program is needed to avoid stagnation in progress.
- The diet should be balanced with protein and carbohydrate content, as well as sufficient calories to support the body with increased physical activity.
- A person with an active lifestyle needs to support the body with the help of multivitamin complexes, including micro and macro elements.
- With heavy loads, nutritional supplements with amino acids and protein, designed specifically for athletes, help well.
- You need to consume the optimal amount of water.
- Sleep should be at least 8 hours, and under heavy loads 10.
Reasonable approach to sports is bound to bring results. It is only important to remember that the constant race for progress, balancing on the brink of the body's capabilities, will someday disrupt the usual regime and may cause serious health complications, not only physical, but also psychological.
