Will Brink

TRAIN SMART: How to Avoid the Pitfalls of Overtraining!

By Will Brink, Contributing Expert

Author of MuscleBuildingNutrition.com and Diet Supplements Revealed

Tired? Stressed? Feeling ill? Not making progress in the gym? You could be suffering from a little known "syndrome" called over training syndrome (or OTS for short). Though moderate exercise has been shown to be beneficial to our health and bodies, extreme and prolonged exercise has been shown to actually suppress our bodies' ability to fight off fatigue and infections and has been linked to severe muscle and tendon soreness—all of which are associated with OTS. But don't kid yourself... OTS doesn't solely strike elite athletes and experienced bodybuilders. It finds ordinary "fitness buffs" and gym goers too.

Yes, intense or excessive exercise combined with inadequate nutrition and/or lack of sleep can lead literally anyone to this dreaded syndrome. Some of the most common and obvious symptoms experienced by people suffering from OTS are long-lasting or chronic fatigue and lowered performance in the gym. Unfortunately, the less obvious symptoms of OTS, which are usually more severe and build up over time, can be lowered immunity, loss of strength and energy, reductions in the anabolic hormone testosterone with a rise in the muscle-wasting hormone cortisol, as well as increases in markers of oxidative stress (free radicals), and other negative effects such as prolonged, nagging muscle soreness. In fact, up to 200 symptoms of OTS in all have been listed in some sources.

Yet, all the physiological markers don't appear in all people suffering from OTS. Or, as in some cases I've witnessed, you may suffer one or more of the indicators of OTS but not all of them. Thus, a clear diagnosis is not always easy to make. So in many respects, truly defining OTS, or determining whether or not you have it, can prove to be more difficult than one might expect. But in many instances, many of the symptoms clearly become much more prevalent over time.

What Are the Signs/Symptoms of OTS?

• Long-lasting fatigue
• Lowered performance
• Loss of strength
• Feeling burned out or overworked
• Boredom or staleness with workouts
• Feeling stressed
• Irritability or mood swings
• Prolonged muscle soreness
• Increased susceptibility to infections
• Loss of appetite
• Depression/lack of motivation
• Sleep disturbances

Scientific Gathering to Discover Symptoms and Treatments of Overtraining

A little while back, I went to a symposium on OTS that was put on by a panel of scientists comprised of exercise physiologists, nutritionists, and clinical researchers who have looked at OTS in a wide variety of athletes, ranging from bodybuilders to long-distance runners. One of their more prominent discoveries revealed that trends with athletes, especially endurance athletes, have finally started surfacing into more concrete data. The panel of scientists had this interesting comment to share with the audience in reference to their findings: "Though moderate exercise has been shown to improve immunity, very intense and prolonged exercise has been shown to actually suppress the immune system."

What's even more interesting about this is the researchers' findings showed that many athletes experienced increased viral infections and upper respiratory infections, chronic fatigue, and other problems associated with their prolonged and/or rigorous bouts of exercise. Does this mean we should all put our gym bags and running shoes in the closet and head for the couch? Clearly not! The benefits of exercise overwhelmingly outweigh the risks; still, we must acknowledge the potential down sides and look for ways to minimize them.

Immune-System Implications

One study that clearly shows the risks of OTS examined runners who ran a full marathon and found they are up to six times more likely to get an upper respiratory infection than runners who trained for the race but did not actually run it. Another study investigating the potential effects from OTS found that runners who trained for a race but did not actually run on race day were half as likely to get an upper respiratory infection as the runners who did run the race. The same researchers also found that the athletes' immune systems had half the ability to kill invading organisms (linked to viral infections) compared with sedentary controls.

In essence, this study showed how debilitating intense, prolonged exercise can be on the immune system. In addition, the researchers found cortisol (a muscle-wasting hormone) and norepinephrine (a hormone that's the brain messenger for most of the sympathetic nervous system) are elevated for up to six hours after vigorous, intense exercise, when compared with non-exercising controls.

Oxidative Stress of OTS

One well-known effect of exercise, whether we're talking about weight-training, long-distance running, or even yoga, is it raises oxidative stress and increases free-radical production. Though most exercise has been shown to improve antioxidant mechanisms, which fight the free-radical (oxidative) damage, these defenses can be overwhelmed when exercise is too intense, too long, or even if it's performed too many days in a row. The effects of increased free-radical production are pretty clear—damage to DNA and a host of diseases best avoided.

The issue of free-radical production and oxidative stress is made more important when we factor in our various lifestyles, less-than-perfect diets, and heavily polluted environments. Poor diet, smoking, certain drugs, and other lifestyle factors can also greatly increase oxidative stress, so exercise combined with poor lifestyle habits has been suggested to perhaps do more harm than good. However, surprisingly, most studies do not show that effect as much as we would expect. Translated, even with all the terrible things a person can do to themselves on a daily basis, exercise continues to be a positive rather than a negative in improving overall health (and it certainly helps with improving body composition too!).

Overcoming and/or Avoiding OTS

While the above mentioned studies focused primarily on "elite" athletes, anyone who exercises should be aware of OTS, its symptoms, and how to avoid it. No one is immune. Even a casual exerciser can fall prey if he or she isn't aware.

So, how do you avoid OTS? Here are the most obvious ways I've discovered...

The most obvious way to avoid OTS and its negative consequences on the immune system and your overall health, as well as put you back on track in the gym to making progress is to avoid overtraining in the first place. Sounds easier said than done, but here are some simple solutions...

• By cycling or increasing and decreasing your exercise intensity levels on a daily or weekly basis, you can give your body sufficient time to rest and, more importantly, recover between hard/intense exercise days/weeks and moderate, less intense exercise days/weeks. In a nutshell, going "all-out," training upward of two to three hours in a single session, day in and day out, is not a good idea—it will surely lead to OTS.
• Ingest adequate calories on a daily basis. Taking in your daily caloric requirements (at the very least) will provide your body with sufficient calories to sustain all "normal" bodily functions. Called basal metabolic rate or BMR—it's the minimum required daily calories for you to sustain living. (To figure out your BMR, simply take your lean body mass, in pounds, times 10. For instance, a 180-lb man with 160 lbs of lean mass would require at least 1,600 calories per day to sustain life/bodily functions (10 x 160 = 1,600). Remember, though, exercise, in any form, uses additional calories, especially proteins (amino acids) from the body that are used to rebuild and recover, which means you may want to "bump up" your BMR by 20 to 30% to accommodate for your lifestyle, and be sure to include plenty of immune-enhancing protein—typically, I suggest whey—into your diet (at least 40% of daily caloric requirements).
• And last, make sure you get plenty of sleep. This one's a no-brainer, but many people overlook this (including myself at times). Inadequate sleep (at least seven to eight hours) will cause reductions in the anabolic hormone testosterone and even cause a rise in the muscle-wasting hormone cortisol, both of which translates into loss of muscle recovery. Other more obvious negative effects include such things as prolonged, nagging muscle soreness and loss of strength and overall energy levels.

And I shouldn't forget to mention, whether you are a casual exercise buff or a serious athlete of any age, just as a general precaution, it's a good idea to avoid exercise at high ozone times of the day in places known to have ozone problems as even small amounts of ozone are known to affect lung function and oxidative stress.

The Treatment of Choice for OTS

Antioxidants: As just about everyone knows by now, antioxidants (specific vitamins, minerals, trace elements, and sulfur-containing compounds) are the treatment of choice for combating free radicals and oxidative stress brought on by exercise. Several studies have confirmed the damaging effects of intense training and ozone on lung function, and yet more studies have found adding antioxidants reduces the power of ozone and exercise-induced damage to lung tissue. Even the simple addition of Vitamin C and E to the diet of trained cyclists was shown to do the trick and improve lung function.

Dutch researchers gave 500 mg of Vitamin C and 500 mg of Vitamin E to well-trained cyclists, while another group took a placebo. (Neither the researchers nor the athletes knew who was getting the antioxidant vitamins, using a double-blind placebo-controlled protocol.) The researchers found that even small amounts of ozone affected the athletes' lung function while training, and the addition of these antioxidants greatly reduced the negative effect of ozone on lung function of the athletes, helping them recovery faster and keeping them healthy.

Other Vitally Important Antioxidants: If the simple addition of Vitamins C and E can have this profound effect on the bodies' immune functioning/recovery process, imagine what other antioxidants or antioxidant-supporting nutrients, such as NAC, whey protein, bioflavanoids, etc., can have? Clearly, a good all-around antioxidant-rich multivitamin formula is a must for people engaged in exercise, and the additional intake of Vitamin C, E, selenium, NAC, and whey protein are highly recommended. Recommended not just by me but by many of the leading researchers and scientists involved in exercise physiology.

Studies Offer Proof—More Ways to Mitigate the Effects of OTS

Whey Protein: Most notably, whey protein has been shown to improve the specific areas of the immune system depleted by intense exercise, and several studies have shown whey protein increases glutathione, the body's most important water-soluble antioxidant, which is essential to immunity. One pilot study that purposely caused OTS in several athletes was able to reverse the immune suppression caused by OTS by adding as little as 40 grams of whey isolate to the athletes' diets per day (in addition to their normal daily diets). Clearly, this, and other research like this, shows antioxidants and antioxidant-increasing nutrients such as whey protein are the athlete's and active person's best friend.

Performance Enhancers—Flax Oil, Creatine, ZMA...

Some studies have shown exercise increases the use and excretion of minerals and mineral status of a person; this may be another indicator of OTS. So it would make sense to include a multi-mineral formula with your antioxidant supplements. Studies have also found a carb-containing drink immediately following the event helped to greatly reduce immune problems by increasing insulin levels, which combat cortisol. Other nutrients that might help overcome OTS would be flax oil and possibly supplements like creatine and ZMA, though there is less data on those specifically for OTS.

Re-Cap Strategies for Avoiding/Overcoming OTS:

• Cycle intensity levels (don't go all out every week of every year).
• Ensure you're consuming enough calories (your BMR plus at least 20%).
• Sleep! Give your body a chance to rebuild after tearing down muscle with exercise.
• Take high-quality antioxidants and a multivitamin/mineral supplement.
• Consume a high-quality whey protein, which is full of immune-enhancing nutrients.

Closing remarks

If you are tired all the time, get sick easily, or have a general loss of strength, muscle mass, or endurance, you could be suffering from OTS. But there's no reason to completely leave the game (or in our case, the gym). First, take a few days (even up to two weeks) to rest up, get plenty of sleep, and make sure you're getting the nutrition you need to fully recover. Then, when you hit the gym again, remember to cycle your intensity levels—don't go all out every single week of the year. And on top of your balanced nutrition plan, add a good quality antioxidant, vitamin and mineral formula, and perhaps some additional products like whey, creatine, and flax to help overcome or avoid OTS once and for all.

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