fatigue

Reducing Fatigue Through Active Recovery

Athlete Fatigue and The Overtraining Syndrome

At some point, all athletes experience fatigue.  Under regular circumstances, an athlete will be fatigued after a tough practice or game, and they will recover within a few hours.  During this recovery time, the muscular and cardiovascular systems adapt through improving efficiency of the heart, increasing capillaries in the muscles, and increasing glycogen stores and mitochondrial enzyme systems within the muscle cells.  All of these adaptations result in a higher level of performance.

Coaches expect a lot out of their athletes, and sometimes two-a-days are unavoidable.  Conditioning involves a combination of work overload and recovery, so you should expect to be tired after a few days of overload practices.  However, when sufficient rest is not taken by an athlete, regeneration cannot occur.  When insufficient rest periods continue (over a few weeks or more), performance will decline and overtraining syndrome may become present.  Overtraining can be dangerous if it occurs.  It takes a toll on the physical and mental health of the athlete, leading to a higher likelihood of injury and other issues.

Symptoms of Overtraining:

  • Feeling washed-out, tired, or drained for multiple consecutive days

  • Insomnia

  • Irritability

  • Headaches

  • Decreased Immunity (Getting sick more often)

  • Decreased training capacity (lowering intensity)

  • Depression

  • Decreased appetite 

Causes of Stress and Fatigue

  • Inadequate rest periods (This includes sleep time and workout recovery time.)

  • Inadequate nutrition

  • Dehydration

  • Mental stress or anxiety

How to Combat Stress and Fatigue
1. Sleep

Get 8-9 hours of sleep each night.  Your body needs this time to restore fuels and regenerate.

2. Drink Water

Dehydration will run you down very quickly.  The average person needs about a half- gallon a day to stay fully hydrated.  If you're working out and sweating often, you may need closer to a gallon of water a day.

3. Eat

Food supplies nutrients to your muscles and organs.  Carbohydrates will give you energy to use.  If you are working out for at least an hour a day, you should increase your caloric intake by 300-800 calories / day.

4. Allow your muscles to rest

When it comes to building muscle or athletic ability, more is not always better.  Your muscles need to rest in order to regenerate.  If you continually break them down without allowing 1-2 days of rest per week, your results will plateau and possibly decline.

5. Limit your stress

Make your goals attainable, rid yourself of negative influences, and don't take on too much.  Mental stress can be just as exhausting as physical stress.  Set your priorities and work on time management.