Athletes who are overtrained tend to feel more tired, stressed, sad, or confused—and less energetic—than healthy athletes. Tracking these feelings might help spot overtraining.

Athletes who are really overtrained might feel more depressed or moody than those who are just temporarily worn out, and these mood changes could be an early red flag that something's wrong.

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.

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.

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.