Over physical training

Over physical training is a poorly defined complex of the body’s psycho-physiological responses to:

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.

The Heart as a Site of Fatigue

In healthy individuals there is no direct evidence that exercise, even prolonged endurance exercise, is limited by fatigue of the heart muscle. Because the heart in effect gets first choice at cardiac output, the heart is well oxygenated and nourished, even at maximal heart rate. In addition, because the heart is "omnivorous" in its appetite for fuels, it can be sustained by either lactic acid (which rises in short - term work) or fatty acids (which rise in long-term work). In individuals free of heart disease, the ECG does not reveal signs of ischemia (inadequate blood flow) during exercise. If ischemic symptoms are observed - then this is, in fact, evidence of heart disease.

During prolonged work that leads to severe dehydration and major fluid and electrolyte shifts, or other situations in which exercise is performed after thermal dehydration or diarrhea, changes in plasma, Na+ , K+ , or Ca2+ . can affect excitation - contraction coupling of the heart. In these cases, cardiac arrhythmias are possible, and exercise is not advised.

Grouping of Cardiorespiratory Endurance Activities

Group 1 Activities that can be readily maintained at a constant intensity and inter inter-individual variation in energy expenditure is relatively low desirable for more precise control of exercise intensity, as in the early stages of a rehabilitation program. Examples of these activities are walking and cycling,especially treadmill and cycle ergometry.

Group 2 Activities where the rate of energy expenditure is highly related to skill, but for a given individual can provide a constant intensity. May also be useful in early stages of conditioning, but skill level must be considered. Examples include swimming and cross - country skiing.

Group 3 Activities where both skill and intensity of exercise are highly variable. Such activities can be very useful to provide group interaction and variety in exercise, but must be cautiously considered for high - risk, low - fit, and/or symptomatic individuals. Competitive factors must also be considered and minimized. Examples of these activities are racquet sports and basketball.

The risk of injury associated with high impact activities or high intensity weight training must also be weighed when selecting exercise modalities, especially for the novice exerciser or an obese individual. It may be desirable to engage in several different activities to reduce repetitive orthopedic stresses and involve a greater number of muscle groups. Because improvement in muscular endurance is largely specific to the muscles involved in exercise. It is important to consider unique vocational or recreational objectives of the exercise program when selecting activities. Finally, it is important to consider other barriers that might decrease the likelihood of compliance with, or adherence to, the exercise program (travel, cost, spousal or partner involvement, etc.).