What Is Overtraining?

Q: What is overtraining? I take it that it’s different from being over training, which I fucking am because of the having to go to the gym and work out part, on top of all the terminology you have to know. I’m so over it!

A: With all the help people ask me for as a personal trainer on how to do x, y, and z at the gym only to ignore the advice, trust me that you’re not the only one who’s over this training shit. I’m so over it, too!

Anyway, overtraining has nothing to do with moving on in interest from exercise. What overtraining actually means is easy to understand, and all it takes is a little physiology.

One of the functions of the central nervous system is voluntary movement and when you lift weights, or perform any physical activity for that matter, the brain sends impulses to the muscles, which causes them to contract. The greater the intensity, load, and volume, the greater the stress that’s placed on the central nervous system during exercise. So when working out too hard and too often without sufficient rest, the motor neurons can build up fatigue and overtraining is said to occur at that point.

When engaging in strenuous physical activity, an adequate amount of food, water, sleep, and rest is needed between workouts for the body to recover from the heavy demand placed on the central nervous system so it can function properly. When the body isn’t afforded those necessities for a long duration of time, the stress accumulates and presents itself in the form of a number of symptoms associated with overtraining, some of which include declining performance, chronic soreness, and muscle breakdown, as well as a lack of motivation, mental lethargy, low libido, anxiety and moodiness, decreased appetite, trouble falling or staying asleep, and a weakened immune system.

When overtraining occurs, the only way to treat its symptoms is to rest and give the body the opportunity it needs to heal. As to the specifics of a course of action and timeframe, they can vary from person to person depending on how severe the condition is, meaning that one person might need to reduce their intensity and frequency for only a few weeks while another might have to reduce their workload or stop training entirely for months or longer before the situation resolves itself.

Overtraining is a very real condition but given that a true case of overtraining requires intense activity on an almost daily basis for months, even years, those who are most likely to develop it are competitive and elite athletes who engage in sports that involve movements like running, swimming, and cycling, for example. Although possible, the condition is rare among individuals whose main form of activity is strength training, such as recreational weightlifters.

Overtraining isn’t a prevalent condition and shouldn’t be much of a concern for the average person. What’s more likely to be experienced by the general population is overreaching, which also stems from overexertion but results in a temporary decline in performance that can take a few days to recover from and has more to do with muscle damage than central nervous fatigue.¹²

Now, does anyone else have a fitness or nutrition question of their own that they want to ask?

Glossary: exercise, food, fitness, frequency, gym, intensity, motivation, muscle, muscle soreness, personal trainer, train, work out, workout

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Monster Longe

Monster Longe is a personal trainer and online coach in San Diego. He's helped hundreds of people lose weight, build muscle, and become more attractive to their loved one so they don't have as strong of a desire to cheat on them anymore. When not working with clients or making content that's easy to read, understand, and apply to everyday life, he enjoys making fun of Drake and people who like the guy.

What Is Overtraining?

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