What happens when athletes train too much?
Prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the overtraining syndrome: joint consensus statement of the European College of Sport Science and the American College of Sports Medicine.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
When athletes train too hard without enough rest, they can get too tired and perform worse. If they rest and get better quickly, it's called overreaching. If they stay tired and weak for months, it's overtraining syndrome.
Surprising Findings
There’s no scientific proof that OTS symptoms are worse than NFOR
Most experts assume overtraining syndrome is just a more severe version of overreaching, but this consensus statement admits: 'There is no scientific evidence to either confirm or refute this suggestion.'
Practical Takeaways
Monitor mood changes as early signs of overtraining
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
When athletes train too hard without enough rest, they can get too tired and perform worse. If they rest and get better quickly, it's called overreaching. If they stay tired and weak for months, it's overtraining syndrome.
Surprising Findings
There’s no scientific proof that OTS symptoms are worse than NFOR
Most experts assume overtraining syndrome is just a more severe version of overreaching, but this consensus statement admits: 'There is no scientific evidence to either confirm or refute this suggestion.'
Practical Takeaways
Monitor mood changes as early signs of overtraining
Publication
Journal
Medicine and science in sports and exercise
Year
2013
Authors
Romain Meeusen, M. Duclos, Carl Foster, A. Fry, Michael Gleeson, David Nieman, John Raglin, Gerard Rietjens, J. Steinacker, Axel Urhausen
Related Content
Claims (4)
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.
Doctors can't use a single blood test or scan to diagnose overtraining — instead, they have to rule out other health problems and see if an athlete's performance keeps dropping for no clear reason.
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.
If you train too much, your performance can drop and stay low for months — and even after you recover, you won’t get any stronger or faster.