Fitness and health is important . Today there seems to be a greater awareness of this aspect, and physical exercise is even in vogue, but it happens, as with everything, that an excess can lead to certain risks.

Increasingly, people are coming to therapy complaining of extreme exhaustion, the causes of which stem from excessive physical exercise without sufficient rest times for the body to recover. To this is added that maintaining the muscles, the form and overcoming the mark daily, becomes an obsession that maintains a compulsive behavior.

Therefore, in this article we will see what the overtraining syndrome consists of, as well as its symptoms and main characteristics.

What is overtraining syndrome?

Overtraining syndrome is a set of symptoms that appears due to excessive physical exercise without adequate recovery time . Fatigue, insomnia, depressive and stress symptoms are some of its symptoms.

The excess of sport together with the demands of work, family, emotional state and an inadequate diet favor its appearance.

This syndrome usually occurs in athletes or elite sportsmen, but sometimes people who are not professionally involved in sports develop compulsive behavior around physical exercise , a sports addiction that can lead to exhaustion or overtraining syndrome.

An important fact to add is that people with overtraining syndrome are more vulnerable to infection, due to their weakened immune system . What is positive in principle, both physically and psychologically, can be undermined if it leads to obsession. A good example of sports addiction is vigorexia.

Main symptoms

Let’s see what the symptoms of overtraining syndrome are .

Physical symptoms

These are the physical repercussions of Overtraining Syndrome.

  • Breathing problems.
  • Hypotension.
  • Loss of weight and appetite .
  • Muscle aches.
  • Increased heart rate and blood pressure
  • Digestive problems.
  • Physical fatigue .

Psychological symptoms

Among the most common psychological disorders associated with this syndrome are the following.

  • Low mood, even depression .
  • Anxiety.
  • Physical and emotional exhaustion.
  • Low self-esteem .
  • Difficulty in dealing with everyday problems.
  • Low capacity of attention and concentration.
  • Insomnia and nightmares.
  • Irritability .
  • Inhibition of sexual desire.

Psychological treatment

The psychological treatment addresses the causes of the emergence of overtraining, that is, what factors have predisposed the physical exercise to become an obsession . Thus, the aim is to evaluate the state of self-esteem, work and family burdens and personality traits such as over-demanding and perfectionism, often related to physical exercise addiction, for their treatment throughout the therapy.

From the psychological point of view, one of the possible causes could well be, in some cases, the compensation of certain deficiencies , such as unsatisfactory personal development, low self-esteem and the stress of daily life, with physical exercise.

The treatment of anxiety and low mood is also fundamental for the person to regain confidence and regain motivation . Special emphasis will be placed on resuming physical exercise in a progressive manner, ensuring that its maintenance is alternated with a correct physical and psychological recovery, taking into account the social and personal context of the patient: work and family demands, etc. and their coping tools.

Bibliographic references:

  • Asensio García, Concepción. https://www.efisioterapia.net/articulos/sindrome-sobreentrenamiento
  • Gonzalez Boto, Rene. Tuero de Prado, Concepción. Márquez Rosa, Sara; “Aportaciones de la psicología en el estudio del sobretrenamiento en el deporte”. http://www.infocop.es/view_article.asp?id=993
  • González-Boto, R., Molinero, O. and Márquez, S. (2006). Overtraining in competitive sport: psychological implications of the imbalance between stress and recovery. Journal of Anxiety and Stress. 12 (1), 99-115.