Why Athletes Get Too Tired to Perform
From Fatigue to Overtraining: Beyond the Dichotomy of Structure and Function
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
When athletes train too much and don’t rest or eat enough, their bodies can’t recover, leading to long-term drops in performance. This is called overtraining. There’s a scale from normal tiredness to serious overtraining, and doctors use a five-part checklist to diagnose it. New tech can test body chemicals to catch early signs.
Surprising Findings
Overtraining syndrome and RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport) often coexist and share overlapping symptoms, making diagnosis complex.
Many assume overtraining is purely about too much training, but the study highlights that underfueling is a key co-driver—meaning poor nutrition can mimic or worsen overtraining.
Practical Takeaways
Use a multidimensional checklist (performance, stress, recovery, nutrition, mental health) to monitor for early signs of overtraining.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
When athletes train too much and don’t rest or eat enough, their bodies can’t recover, leading to long-term drops in performance. This is called overtraining. There’s a scale from normal tiredness to serious overtraining, and doctors use a five-part checklist to diagnose it. New tech can test body chemicals to catch early signs.
Surprising Findings
Overtraining syndrome and RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport) often coexist and share overlapping symptoms, making diagnosis complex.
Many assume overtraining is purely about too much training, but the study highlights that underfueling is a key co-driver—meaning poor nutrition can mimic or worsen overtraining.
Practical Takeaways
Use a multidimensional checklist (performance, stress, recovery, nutrition, mental health) to monitor for early signs of overtraining.
Publication
Journal
Sports & Exercise Medicine Switzerland
Year
2026
Authors
Carrard
Related Content
Claims (6)
When athletes push too hard, their performance might dip at first — but if it's 'functional' overreaching, they bounce back stronger. If it's 'non-functional,' they stay weak even after resting.
To diagnose overtraining in athletes, doctors need to rule out other health issues like low nutrients, infections, or energy deficiency, because those can cause similar symptoms and often happen at the same time as overtraining.
If athletes push themselves too hard for too long without enough rest, they can develop a serious condition called overtraining syndrome, where their performance gets worse and just won't improve — even after taking time off.
When athletes train too much without enough recovery, their brain and body systems—like brain chemicals, hormone responses, and muscle energy production—can go out of balance, leading to overtraining syndrome.
There's a tool called 'Olympic Squares' that checks athletes in five areas—like how they're performing, how stressed they are, and how well they're eating and recovering—to help figure out if they're overtrained when their performance drops for a long time.