Over training and fat loss

(Thanks Will Brink)

Question : Over Training Syndrome ?Dear Will, I am often tired for days after I workout. I also notice my strength is down and I get sick more often than others. I am thinking I must be in an over trained state. I am a tri-athlete and it often comes with the territory, though I try to avoid it. What information do you have that would help me? By the way, your e-book was very helpful. - Jack.Wate.

Answer: Recently I went to a symposium on Over Training Syndrome (OTS) that was put on by a panel of scientists who have looked at OTS is a variety of athletes, ranging from bodybuilders to runners. In many respects, truly defining OTS in athletes has been more difficult to do than expected. Athletes that suffer from OTS can have alterations in immunity, loss of strength and energy, reductions in testosterone with a rise in the muscle wasting hormone cortisol, and other negative effects. However, these physiological markers don't appear in all athletes suffering from OTS, so diagnoses is not always easy. Trends with athletes, especially endurance athletes, regarding OTS have been coming to light. The panel of scientists at this symposium had some interesting findings and comments to share with the audience.

Their findings show that many elite athletes experience viral infections and upper respiratory infections (URIs), chronic fatigue, and other problems. Runners who ran a marathon are up to six time more likely to get a URI than runners who trained for the race but did not run it. The researchers also found that the athletes immune systems had half the ability to kill invading organisms vs sedentary controls, showing how hard intense exercise can be on the immune system. They found cortisol and norepinephrine are elevated up to six hours after intense exercise vs non exercising controls. Relating directly to the immune system: they found a 38% drop in immune cells essential to fighting infection called lymphocytes (T-cells). T-Cells function tests showed the T-cells don't react properly to an immune challenge (e.g bacteria, viruses, etc) for up to 6 hours after exercise. Natural killer cells (NK cells) needed as a first line defense for immunity were down while pro-inflammitory products such as IL-6 are up 500%! Ouch! For up to a solid week after intense endurance exercise, they found various immune disturbances and other problems. Not good mojo.

The most obvious way to avoid OTS is to avoid overtraining in the first place by cycling intensity levels, ingesting adequate calories, and making sure to get plenty of sleep. Nutritionally speaking, it was found a carb drink immediately following the event helped to greatly reduce immune problems by increasing insulin levels which combat cortisol. Other nutrients that might help would be whey protein, anti oxidants, flax oil, glutamine, and possibly products like creatine and ZMA, but there is less data on those specifically for OTS. If you are tired all the time, get sick easily, or have a general loss of strength and endurance, you are probably suffering from OTS.
Good luck.

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