Most studies show that when athletes push too hard and start showing signs of overtraining, they're often not eating enough calories or carbs to fuel their bodies.

Most studies on overtrained endurance athletes found they weren’t eating enough carbs or energy when their symptoms started — so running low on fuel might be a common factor.

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.

If athletes don’t eat enough calories or carbs, especially during intense training, they might not recover well—and fixing that could stop them from feeling overly tired or burned out, which people often think is overtraining.

Some athletes who are told they're just overtrained might actually be low on fuel — their bodies aren't getting enough energy or carbs — which can look like overtraining but is really a different condition called RED-S.