1. OVERTRAINING
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Self-assessment
 Training planning and
analysis tips
90
 Rowing technique videos
80
 Applicable bits of rowing
research
70
Normal state
Heart rate
Decreased adaptivity
Improved condition
60
50
40
30
Jarek Mäestu
Sports Scientist (PhD),
Ex rower and rowing coach,
Rowing Academy Scientist
0
120
Time (s)
240

2. Overview
Parameters that are easy and inexpensive to
measure and which will not disturb the training
process should be preferred in the diagnosis of
overtraining.
Unfortunately, a valid parameter that can help
coaches and athletes to control training is difficult to
find. Moreover, an individual response is very
different; therefore athletes should be monitored
continuously and analyzed individually. Much of
this can be done by athletes themselves during
everyday training.
Self-assessment should include:
• Measurement of heart rate during rest
• Subjective assessment of the individual state
• Subjective assessment of workout intensity
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Figure1. Overview of self-assessed
parameters in Sportlyzer coaching
software.

3. Heart rate
An increased resting heart rate has been often reported as a sign of excessive overload
and has been suggested as a marker of overtraining syndrome. However, it may refer to
diseases, bad sleep or glycogen depletion that might not lead to overtraining syndrome.
Instead of a resting heart rate, an orthostatic test should be preferred, with the
measures of heart rate in lying position and while standing. Increases in standing heart
rate values are usually seen when dealing with unaccustomed volumes and intensities.
90
Normal state
Heart rate
80
Decreased adaptivity
70
Improved condition
60
50
Figure 2 shows heart rate values (HR) at an
altitude training camp. Red line indicates HR
after 4 days (new training loads) and green line
after 6 days of training (athletes got
accustomed to the different environment).
Notice that there are no changes in resting HR.
40
30
0
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Time (s)
Figure 2. Values of heart rate during the orthostatic
240 test performed at the altitude camp. 0-120 s while
lying, 120-240 s while standing (Rusko et al. 1994)

4. Subjective complaints
The subjective complaints have also quite often been used as markers to avoid
excessive exercise stress. The most frequently used markers are related to sleep
disturbance, general fatigue, stress, muscle soreness etc. Usually those indices show
increased values if training load increases, however very large individual differences
exist and should be taken into account. It should also be considered that those items
themselves show different responses to exercise stress. For example, indices of fatigue
usually increase before changes in sleep quality occur (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Self-assessment values during the competitive season (Hooper et al. 1995).
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5. Perception of effort
An increased ratio between the actual exercise intensity and the subjective perception
of effort (Borg-scale) may also be analyzed during the process of training. This
analysis, however, usually reveals just small changes in overtrained athletes
and, therefore, the practical usefulness of this tool appears to be limited.
However, it could be used for detecting training intensities (if the target training intensity
corresponds to what the athlete perceives) and may therefore serve as a tool for
preventing overtraining not as a marker of excessive training load.
Figure 4. Differences and variability in subjective
perception of effort to the volume of trainings in
Sportlyzer coaching software in order to prevent
overtraining.
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6. Conclusions
If comparing the usefulness of resting heart rate parameters, orthostatic test should be
preferred if compared to values of lying position only.
In practice, the usefulness of subjective parameters is somewhat restricted because of
the difficulty in defining a reference value that indicates excessive stress.
Therefore, continuous monitoring to ensure the individual reference values should be
recommended.
References
• Hooper SL, Mackinnon LT, Howard A, Gordon RD, Bachmann AW. Markers for
monitoring overtraining and recovery. Medicine and Science for Sports and Exercise
1995; 27: 106-112.
• Rusko HK, Härkonen M, Pakarinen A. Overtraining effects on hormonal and autonomic
regulation in young cross-country skiers, 1994, Medicine and Science in Sports and
Exercise, 26: 62-68.
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8. More related reading
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•
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Overtraining syndrome (slideshow)
Markers of overtraining – performance tests (slideshow)
Rest and recovery during training (wiki)
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