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.

Nine simple check-ins about mood, eating, and how you're feeling during workouts can tell if a male athlete is overtrained — no blood tests or fancy machines needed.

Some scores that combine health, hormone, and body measurements might help tell the difference between male athletes who are overtrained and those who aren’t — but right now, there’s only one small study showing this.

There's no single blood test or clear sign that can definitively tell if someone has overtraining syndrome. Doctors instead use a mix of mood surveys and lab tests like cortisol or testosterone, but none of these are very accurate on their own.

There's no single blood test or clear sign that doctors can use to diagnose overtraining. Instead, they rely on a mix of how you feel (like mood and fatigue) and lab tests (like hormones and inflammation), but none of these are very accurate on their own.

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.