Athletes who are overtrained might have messed-up hormone levels — like lower testosterone and higher stress hormones — which could explain why they feel so drained and don’t recover well.

When male athletes are overtrained, their body’s stress and growth hormone responses to low blood sugar don’t react as strongly—this could mean their brain’s hormone control center isn’t working right.

When athletes train too much without enough recovery, their brain and body systems—like brain chemicals, hormone responses, and muscle energy production—can go out of balance, leading to overtraining syndrome.

For male athletes who train hard, checking a mix of things like mood, diet, body fat, and hormone reactions might be a better way to spot overtraining than just looking at one blood test.

If athletes train too much and don’t eat enough, they might be misdiagnosed with overtraining when the real issue is low energy from not fueling properly.

Overtraining isn't just being tired — it's when an athlete's body stops working properly and performance drops for a long time, even after resting, and it's different from regular burnout that goes away in a few weeks.