1) an excessive training load;
2) too frequent competitions;
3) Inadequate recovery time following an intensive work load, or any combination of these. It may be aggravated by other "stressors" in the athlete’s life, such as financial or work pressures, social stresses, excessive travel, inadequate sleep and nutrition, or lack of recreational opportunities.
A.Definitions
1.Short term over physical training
This may be difficult to distinguish from the normal sense of fatigue which accompanies an intensive training program. However, adequate recovery from and/or management of stressors will lead to an improved state of fitness and better performance. Inadequate recovery leads to a persistent sense of fatigue, often accompanied by muscle soreness, greater effort sense during training, and poorer performances during training and competition.
2.Long term over physical training
This syndrome may occur if the factors which precipitated the short term condition persist another important cause is misinterpretation by a coach or athlete of undesirable performance results being due to under training. In this situation, there may be a profound breakdown of various psychos-physiological systems which may not recover without many weeks or months of rest.
Over physical training can also disrupt the immune system, which makes the athlete more susceptible to infections. The endocrine system may show a stress response. Similarly, over training can profoundly affect the psychological status of the athlete. The widely used Profile of Mood States (POMS) shows a characteristic "inverse iceberg profile," with low levels of vigor, and high indices of fatigue, depression, and anger. This profile can be reversed with appropriate management of training, and time allowed for recovery.
B.Prevention of over physical training
The highly trained, strongly motivated elite athlete constantly treads a fine line between optimal levels of training, and over training. Close communication between insightful coaches and athletes who are "tuned in" to monitoring their own mental and physical responses to training is required to detect the "early warning signs" of over training and to react appropriately.
