Sports Medicine: Excessive Training

Excessive training refers to the training in which the volume, the intensity, or both are increased too quickly, and without proper progression. Training with a high volume of intensity produces no additional improvement in conditioning or performance and can lead to a chronic state of fatigue that is associated with muscle glycogen depletion. Research shows that training 3 to 4 hours per day, 5 or 6 days a week, produces no greater benefits than when training is limited to 1 to 1.5 hours per day. In addition such excessive training has been shown to significantly decrease muscle strength. Therefore, you should make sure that your program is periodized and slowly progressive.

The level of training intensity relates to both the force of muscle action and the stress placed on the cardiovascular system. With regard to muscle action, intensity is highest when the muscles exert maximal tension. Training intensity can determine the specific adaptations that occur in response to the training stimulus. High-intensity, low-volume can be tolerated only for brief periods. Although it does increase muscle strength, aerobic capacity will not be improved. Conversely, low-intensity, high-volume training stresses the oxygen transport and oxidative metabolism systems, causing greater gains in aerobic capacity. Attempts to perform large amounts of high-intensity training can have negative effects on adaptation. The energy needs of high-intensity exercise place greater demands on the glycolytic system, attempted too often, such as daily, the muscles can become chronically depleted of their energy reserves and the person might demonstrate signs of chronic fatigue or overtraining. The body undergoes inflammation in response to this training and should progress into repair and remodeling.

If you are constantly in the catabolic state of metabolism through repeated training, your body cannot produce the chemical substances and parts needed for repair, remodeling and ultimately growth of the body. This is called overtraining. The stress of excessive training can exceed the body”s ability to recover and adapt, which results in more catabolism than anabolism. Once again, people experience aired levels of fatigue during repeated days and weeks of training, so not all situations can able classified as overtraining. Fatigue that often follows one or more exhaustive training sessions is usually corrected by a few days of rest coupled with a carbohydrate-rich diet. Overtraining on the other hand is characterized by a sudden decline in performance that cannot be remedied by a few days of rest and dietary  manipulation.

Orthopedic Corner | Leon Mead MD Orthopedic Doctor | 730 Goodlette Road North, Suite 201  Naples Florida 34102 | Phone: (239) 262-1119