The Study
Diagnosing Overtraining Syndrome: A Scoping Review
This study is like a map that shows all the signs doctors have noticed in athletes who might have overtraining syndrome. It doesn’t prove which signs definitely mean someone has the condition — it just lists what people have seen before.
Analysis score
Maximum 100 for a systematic review.
Where the score came from
Athletes can get so tired from training that their performance drops for weeks. This is called overtraining syndrome. Doctors don’t have one test to find it, so they look at many things like mood, hormones, and heart patterns.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 541 / 100
Quality score
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of cohort studies. They sit above a single cohort study but below a single randomized trial, because the underlying evidence is still observational.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1These signs might help spot overtraining, but no single test is reliable yet.
- 2It’s like solving a puzzle with many pieces, but we’re still missing some.
- 3Some studies show overtrained athletes have lower testosterone, higher cortisol, worse mood scores, and different heart rate patterns.
- 4One tool combines these into a score, but it’s only been tested in small, uncontrolled studies.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Sports Health
Year
2021
Authors
J. Carrard, Anne-Catherine Rigort, Christian Appenzeller‐Herzog, F. Colledge, K. Königstein, T. Hinrichs, A. Schmidt-Trucksäss
Related Content
Claims (6)
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.
Athletes who are overtrained might have a less responsive stress and hormone system, which shows up as weaker hormone reactions during a special medical test.
Athletes who are overtrained might have an imbalance in their nervous system, with their body being in 'rest mode' too much and not balancing properly with 'active mode'.
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.
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.
There's no blood test or body signal that reliably shows when someone is overtrained — the best way to tell is by how long it takes their performance to bounce back.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.