Vicious Lifecycle.: Sport Psycho Part 1 : Staleness

Sport Psycho Part 1 : Staleness

Overtraining and Staleness

Overtraining is “a process involving progressively increased training to a high absolute level that is in excess of more routine training undertaken to maintain performance”.The purpose of overtraining is to enhance physical performance, and it may be incorporated into the training process. Research on over-training has been conducted primarily with athletes, but the findings from these investigations may generalize to individuals who exercise at extreme levels. For both athletes and exercisers who over-train, knowing the optimal amount of training or exercise is often difficult but crucial for their level of performance and for quality of life. Too much training can detract from the quality of life Although various moderating factors may influence a person’s response to overtraining usually occurs when there is an imbalance between training and recovery.

Psychological Responses to Overtraining

During periods of light training, athletes and exercisers tend to report the desirable iceberg profile.However, research examining mood state responses to long duration overtraining (e.g., several months) in swimmers have found that progressive increases in training volume were associated with greater mood disturbance,and decreases in training volume were associated with an improvement in mood.The dose response relationship between mood states and changes in training levels has been reported with shorter periods of overtraining (e.g., 6 weeks or less) and in other sport settings with different overtraining regimens.If the imbalance between training and recovery persists for a lengthy period of time, staleness may occur. Staleness is a severe negative response to overtraining characterized by longterm decrement in performance capacity and dys-regulation of psychological and physiological states Individuals suffering from staleness have a decreased quality of life and may also be clinically depressed. The only proven treatment for staleness is rest.