“Is It Overtraining or Just Work Ethic?”: Coaches’ Perceptions of Overtraining in High-Performance Strength Sports

Abstract

Optimal physical performance is achieved through the careful manipulation of training and recovery. Short-term increases in training demand can induce functional overreaching (FOR) that can lead to improved physical capabilities, whereas nonfunctional overreaching (NFOR) or the overtraining syndrome (OTS) occur when high training-demand is applied for extensive periods with limited recovery. To date, little is known about the OTS in strength sports, particularly from the perspective of the strength sport coach. Fourteen high-performance strength sport coaches from a range of strength sports (weightlifting; n = 5, powerlifting; n = 4, sprinting; n = 2, throws; n = 2, jumps; n = 1) participated in semistructured interviews (mean duration 57; SD = 10 min) to discuss their experiences of the OTS. Reflexive thematic analysis resulted in the identification of four higher order themes: definitions, symptoms, recovery and experiences and observations. Additional subthemes were created to facilitate organisation and presentation of data, and to aid both cohesiveness of reporting and publicising of results. Participants provided varied and sometimes dichotomous perceptions of the OTS and proposed a multifactorial profile of diagnostic symptoms. Prevalence of OTS within strength sports was considered low, with the majority of participants not observing or experiencing long-term reductions in performance with their athletes.

“I Want to Create So Much Stimulus That Adaptation Goes Through the Roof”: High-Performance Strength Coaches' Perceptions of Planned Overreaching

“…Additionally, the prevalence of musculoskeletal injury reported in the strength sport literature is low (Bell et al, 2020 ; Grandou et al, 2020b ), with only a single study reporting musculoskeletal injury as a concomitant symptom of maladaptation following POR (Fry et al, 2001 ). Conversely, high-performance strength coaches consider musculoskeletal injury to be the most common symptom of NFOR/OTS (Bell et al, 2021 ), and competitive strength athletes who have experienced an unexplained decrease in performance report musculoskeletal issues (i.e., aches and pains) as the most common symptom of maladaptation (Grandou et al, 2020a ). It is worth noting that musculoskeletal issues have been most frequently reported where the decrease in performance lasted <1 week to 1 month, but not >1 month, suggesting aches and pains are more indicative of acute maladaptation and not actually NFOR/OTS.…”

“…There is only minimal evidence that true OTS has occurred in either competitive strength athletes or in athletes undertaking resistance-based exercise (Bell et al, 2020 ; Grandou et al, 2020a , b ). Moreover, high-performance strength coaches perceive both the risk and prevalence of OTS within their sport to be low (Bell et al, 2021 ).…”

“…A lack of understanding of the terminology and conceptualization of OTS between expert consensus, sports science researchers and strength coaches have highlighted the need to develop evidence-informed collaboration between strength coaches and sports scientists (Bell et al, 2021 ). Without guidance from coaches and practitioners, research may not fully elucidate the complexity of the training response to POR, or the multidimensional dilemmas faced by strength coaches when working with high-performance athletes.…”

Overtraining syndrome - what we already know

“…Symptoms can also concern a psycho-emotional state. Development of apathy towards sports decreased readiness for training, irritability, and mood swings are possible [28]. What is peculiar, OTS may increase the risk of depression development in an athlete, but depression may also be an OTS symptom [29].…”

High-Intensity Conditioning for Combat Athletes: Practical Recommendations

“…For the amateur athlete, considerations must also be given to employment, study, family, travel and financial circumstances, which all place considerable demands on time required to comply with high-intensity conditioning programs. Failure to respect these demands can lead to maladaptation, non-functional overreaching and possibly overtraining [27,28].…”