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Sports Medicine
Published in: Sports Medicine 13/2002

01-11-2002 | Review Article

Biochemical Aspects of Overtraining in Endurance Sports

A Review

Authors: Cyril Petibois, Georges Cazorla, Jacques-Rémi Poortmans, Gérard Déléris

Published in: Sports Medicine | Issue 13/2002

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Abstract

Top-level performances in endurance sports require several years of hard training loads. A major objective of this endurance training is to reach the most elevated metabolic adaptations the athlete will be able to support. As a consequence, overtraining is a recurrent problem that highly-trained athletes may experience during their career. Many studies have revealed that overtraining could be highlighted by various biochemical markers but a principal discrepancy in the diagnosis of overtraining stems from the fact that none of these markers may be considered as universal. In endurance sports, the metabolic aspects of training fatigue appear to be the most relevant parameters that may characterise overtraining when recovery is not sufficient, or when dietary habits do not allow an optimal replenishment of substrate stores. From the skeletal muscle functions to the overall energetic substrate availability during exercise, six metabolic schemes have been studied in relation to overtraining, each one related to a central parameter, i.e. carbohydrates, branched-chain amino acids, glutamine, polyunsaturated fatty acids, leptin, and proteins.
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Metadata
Title
Biochemical Aspects of Overtraining in Endurance Sports
A Review
Authors
Cyril Petibois
Georges Cazorla
Jacques-Rémi Poortmans
Gérard Déléris
Publication date
01-11-2002
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Published in
Sports Medicine / Issue 13/2002
Print ISSN: 0112-1642
Electronic ISSN: 1179-2035
DOI
https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-200232130-00005

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