Now that the NFL lockout is over and the professional football players are at training camp, some of these elite athletes can experience what is called over training.  

Think about our young athletes heading off to preseason training or two-a-days before our high school football season starts. They can also experience this same condition.

In an effort to get into the best shape ever, there is a potential for over training. If you are preparing for a marathon, triathlon or some out of the ordinary extreme sport or even just spending extensive hours training and you are feeling overly tired and losing some of your strength, you may be over trained.  

Here are some symptoms and signs as outlined by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) of over training you should be aware of:

• Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
• Mild leg soreness, general aches and pains
• Pain in muscles and joints
• Sudden drop in performance
• Insomnia
• Headaches
• Decreased immunity (increased number of colds, and sore throats)
• Decrease in training capacity / intensity
• Moodiness and irritability
• Depression
• Loss of enthusiasm for the sport
• Decreased appetite
• Increased incidence of injuries.
• A compulsive need to exercise

A clear sign of over training for most athletes is the increase of their resting heart rate, as documented by Heikii Rusko. A resting heart rate should be considerably lower on a trained and conditioned athlete. However, if over training is occurring the resting heart rate will stay elevated a minimum of 10 beats higher than when the athlete is rested and recovered.

A simple solution for over training syndrome is adequate rest and recovery. However, there are a few more steps that can be taken to prevent over training syndrome: proper nutrition, cross training, active recovery, sports or deep tissue massage and proper hydration.

Another method to identify if you are over training is by keeping a training log to see if you are losing your gains and possibly damaging your muscles and/or tendons from too much stress over a prolonged period of time. A simple solution is to make adjustments until you rebound to full strength.  

With the kids going back to their fall sports and starting their training regimens it is important be cautious of the signs and symptoms of over training. Not everyone is susceptible to overtraining syndrome; however, be sure to incrementally increase your training while maintaining a proper recovery process. There is something to be said about slow and steady as opposed to going fast and hurting yourself.

My next article will be focused on how to boost your metabolism without spending hours in the gym.