Question

1)Define and describe overtraining syndrome. How does the sympathetic and parasympathetic system contribute to overtraining (4 points)

2) Briefly describe the model used to optimize training. (6 points)

Answer 1

Answer :

Over training syndrome :

Overtraining occurs when a person exceeds their body's ability to recover from strenuous exercise.Overtraining can be described as a point where a person may have a decrease in performance and plateauing as a result of failure to consistently perform at a certain level or training load; a load which exceeds their recovery capacity.People who are overtrained cease making progress, and can even begin to lose strength and fitness. Overtraining is also known as chronic fatigue, burnout and overstress in athletes.It is suggested that there are different variations of overtraining, firstly monotonous program over training suggest that repetition of the same movement such as certain weight lifting and baseball batting can cause performance plateau due to an adaption of the central nervous system which results from a lack of stimulation.

Listed below are some of the common effects and cited signs of overtraining.

Overtraining may be accompanied by one or more concomitant symptoms:

Persistent muscle soreness

Persistent fatigue, different from just being tired from a hard training session, occurs when fatigue continues even after adequate rest.

Elevated resting heart rate, a persistently high heart rate after adequate rest such as in the morning after sleep, can be an indicator of overtraining.

Reduced heart rate variability

Increased susceptibility to infections

Increased incidence of injuries

Irritability

Depression

Mental breakdown

Burnout

Parasympathetic and sympathetic contribution :

When intensity, duration, frequency of training, or any combination of these factors exceeds an individual’s capacity for adaptation, overreaching and overtraining may occur. Exceeding adaptation capacity without sufficient recovery normally leads to decrements in physical performance that are based on complex interactions among several biological systems and psychological influences

Two types of overtraining have been theorized to exist; the difference is in the predominance of either the sympathetic or the parasympathetic nervous system (3,44,71). Apparently, aerobic endurance overtraining results predominantly from an excessive volume overload (parasympathetic dominant), whereas anaerobic or resistance overtraining (sympathetic dominant) primarily results from excessive high-intensity overload.

These different types of overtraining have been reported to have different signs and symptoms, although performance decrements are a key common aspect of both.

Model for optimize training :

It is evident from the studies referred to so farin this article that there is a need to formally struc-ture both the overtraining and recovery processes.Only when the terminology and symptoms havebeen clearly defined and incorporated into a largerframework can a better understanding of how toavoid training methods that may lead to stalenessbe achieved. Five main areas need to be addressedto achieve this understanding of the staleness syn-drome.

(1) The fact that most conditions on the overtrain-ing-response continuum are associated with per-formance decrements and other negative conse-quences. That is, increased training is not alwaysbeneficial for enhanced performance.

(2) The lack of accepted tests and standard criteriaavailable to accurately place an overtrained athleteon the overtraining-response continuum prohibitsclearer diagnoses. It is during periods of heavytraining (i.e. overtraining) that the most critical anddifficult diagnoses have to be made.

(3) The obvious need to develop a reliable and eas-ily managed method to monitor training (i.e. thebreakdown process) is of the utmost concern. Sucha method could then be matched with a similarmethod designed to measure recovery.

(4) The need to define the markers of recovery andthereby extend the monitoring system to cover thewhole process of training and recovery.

(5) The need to integrate reliable markers into thetraining monitoring system to preven