Overtraining Dangers For Young Athletes
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In the afterglow of the Olympics, big dreams often come to - or get put on - very young people. Many medal winners in some sports are in their teens, and you heard dozens, if not hundreds of times, how many not only started their sport at four to six, but how many have been “training for this day†all those years. Shawn Johnson, 16, the gymnast from West Des Moines Iowa, was the youngest athlete to win a gold medal, and commentators routinely reported that she’d been training since age six.
And the U.S., though athletes train rigorously, seemed almost laid back when news came out about Chinese athletes. One example was a 15-year-old diver, ordered to skip dinner for a year to keep her body sharp slicing into the water. She weighed 66 pounds.
Signs of overtraining, according to John M. MacKnight, M.D., associate professor at the University of Virginia and an expert on sports medicine: chronic fatigue, "burnout," generalized weakness, “staleness†and progressively worsening performance. Most highly trained athletes have heart rates of 50 - 60 beats per minute, he says, but an overtrained athlete may have a resting pulse of 80 or more.
Overtrained athletes are likely to lose their appetite and weight. Other signs: slow healing of wounds, sore throat, swollen lymph glands, "dead legs," excessive sweating, decreased competitive drive, irritability, restlessness, and widespread muscle and joint aches.
Psychologically, overtraining shows up as emotions that are more intense than normal (emotional lability), depression, anxiety, poor concentration, and disordered sleep. Apathy and loss of interest in training, especially close to an important competition, are warnings.
Overtraining can cause long-term, and even permanent physical and emotional damage. In the short run, athletes are likely to do less well than usual in competitions, which can lead to even more overtraining.
Prevention is the best approach. Find out whether your child’s coach is aware of overtraining, and will step in if symptoms appear. Good training doesn’t mean never working hard. Dr. Mackey says “incremental†increases in training lead safely to higher levels of fitness, and that “Training may include “periods of ‘overload’ training that push the body to the limits of exercise tolerance while also allowing adequate recovery time.â€
What should you do when you suspect overtraining? Speak to your son’s or daughter’s coach immediately. You may want a doctor and/or sports medicine expert to check for high heart rates and other signs of overtraining.
If overtraining is diagnosed, athletes should have a rest period when they don’t do their regular workouts. While some doctors say athletes should rest completely, that’s often unacceptable to the youth, coach and parents. Authorities in sports medicine suggest a lower intensity sport for a while – swimming and bicycling are two. Some time off is also likely to lift depression and other emotions that can harm performance.
It’s a good idea to bring a sports medicine professional in to consult, because the athlete and others may not be able to step back and look objectively at symptoms, and coaches may not have skills to design therapeutic exercise programs for downtime. For more information, see Dr. MacKnight’s article on the ACC conference’s website.