Overtraining: Metabolic factors and exercise-induced muscle damage

Overtraining is the plateauing or decrease in performance that occurs in spite of increasing workloads. An overtrained athlete may be predisposed to chronic muscle soreness, stress fractures and other musculoskeletal problems such as exercise-induced muscle damage. Metabolic indicators for monitoring overtraining include testosterone: cortisol ratio, creatine kinase, myoglobin, urea, lactate and uric acid. Overtraining syndrome reduces the benefit of training and wastes the athletes valuable time. The sooner this syndrome is diagnosed, the fewer negative effects the athlete will suffer. Copyright © 1995 The Hong Kong Association of Sports Medicine and Sports Scinece.