The Endocrine System in Overtraining

Abstract

Athletes typically train to enhance performance and achieve competition goals; however, too much exercise training with insufficient recovery can result in the athlete becoming overtrained. When the overtraining syndrome occurs, decrements in performance are the most prominent symptom, but others include fatigue, changes in mood state, competitive incompetence, and changes in sleep patterns, just to name a few. As the endocrine system is very involved in physiological adaptations and recovery to stress, it has received substantial attention in the overtraining literature. Ultimately, it appears that there is no single endocrine marker capable of identifying overtraining, and evidence to date suggests there probably never will be. Since the primary symptom of overtraining is a decrement in performance, regular monitoring is key to preventing its development through guiding the planning of training sessions to ensure sufficient recovery and consistent positive adaptations.